Short Review: I have a rule about films with full-frontal male nudity: I don't watch them.


For those of you who sat through Borat: Cultural Learnings Of America For Make Benefit Glorious Nation Of Kazakhstan, this review is simple. Remember that disturbing scene in the hotel room? Remember how you were laughing but it wasn't really that funny. It was laughter based in being shocked not amused. Many would rather have skipped that scene if they could. This movie is that scene stretched to eighty minutes.

Sasha Baron Cohen is a chameleon and gets laughs through making the audience uncomfortable by putting his wild characters into uncomfortable social situations. This time Cohen becomes Bruno, a flamboyant homosexual media personality. Cohen's wallowing in faux pas has the ability to be funny, even insightful, but he descends into brutish, gross displays. With the exception of his mockery of celebrity adoption of third-world kids, Cohen seems unable to develop his humor beyond the most base sex jokes available. It is a shame. He is obviously very talented and has a gift for comedy.

This movie is not funny. It could be funny, but it fails.


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The Big Lebowski (1998)
Blades of Glory (2007)


Other Critic’s Reviews:
The Critical Critics
USA Today

Labels: comedy, film, movie review, Sacha Baron Cohen

Yes, this is crude, stupid and a complete waste of time. That said, it is funny. I know there's plenty of people out there who would disagree. As my Geddy Lee Lovin' Brother-in-Law says "Will Ferrell is a one-trick pony, but its one heckuva trick."

Labels: film, Gary Cole, John C Reilly, movie trailer, Sacha Baron Cohen, Will Ferrell

Director: Eric Darnell (Antz) and Tom McGrath (Shrek the Third)
Actors: Ben Stiller (Tropic Thunder), Sacha Baron Cohen (Talladega Nights: The Legend of Ricky Bobby), David Schwimmer (Apt Pupil), Jada Pincket Smith (The Women), Tommy Lister (The Fifth Element), Chris Rock (The Longest Yard), and Cedric the Entertainer (Man of the House)

Labels: animated, Ben Stiller, Cedric the Entertainer, Chris Rock, David Schwimmer, film, Jada Pinkett Smith, movie trailer, Sacha Baron Cohen

Labels: comedy, film, movie trailer, Sacha Baron Cohen

I know since this is a big budget rendition of a Broadway hit, I'm supposed to bend over backward in my praise. The fact is that, other than a humorous appearance by Sacha Baron Cohen, the film has very little personality and even less purpose. The violence is over-the-top and the moral decrepitude of the characters is barely studied. This is just a premise worked out on screen with no meaningful result.

Tim Burton's Mall-Rat Goth style fits well with the subject but his inability to produce three-dimensional characters really makes this film insufferable. Like in his other movies, the people on screen are scribbles of characters who linger far beyond their initial charm and eventually become props to Burton's design work.


Related Reviews:
Tim Burton movies
Big Fish (2003)
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005)


Other Critic's Reviews:
A Nutshell Review
2 Reels

Labels: film, Helen Bonham Carter, Johnny Depp, movie review, musical, Sacha Baron Cohen, Tim Burton