Rating: 9/10

Director: Larry Charles
Writers: Sacha Baron Cohen, Anthony Hines, Dan Mazer, Jeff Shaffer, Peter Baynham
Cast: Sacha Baron Cohen, Gustaf Hammarsten, Clifford Banagale, Josh Meyers
Studio: Universal

The king of the obscene, Sacha Baron Cohen, is back with another shocking, and most importantly, hilarious faux-documentary with BRÜNO. It’s a film that very admirably knows how to work dildo and blow job jokes for every comedic inch possible, as BRÜNO offers plenty of great inappropriate humor.

BRÜNO (played by Cohen, of course) is a gay Austrian fashion maven who graciously lets us look into his utterly fabulous life. We get to meet his lover, a pygmy flight attendant, whose introduction includes hilarious clips of the couple’s inventive and, some might say kinky, lovemaking. These early scenes of Bruno and his boyfriend in the bedroom serve as a good spot check to see if you’re going to like what BRÜNO has to offer – if you watch it and find it sick and tasteless then you should probably just go ahead and leave the theater, but if you find yourself enjoying how wrong it is then you will love what the rest of film has planned for you.

Early on, Bruno gets fired from his TV job because of damage caused by his Velcro suit at a prestigious fashion show. This prompts Bruno to leave Europe for Hollywood, as he intentionally plans on becoming a movie star, and later a celebrity interviewer, in hopes of becoming famous.

Bruno’s long and hard journey (I strongly feel Bruno would have wanted me to word it that way) includes several sharp satirical moments. Bruno talking to parents about the different things they would allow to happen to their children if they were used in his project, such as a being a part of a Jesus Christ crucifixion reenactment or getting liposuction is comically amusing and disgusting to the soul, because it shows the parents’ willingness to do whatever it takes. A meeting between Bruno and PR consultants about what charities he could get involved with to gain popularity is another laugh-out-of-disgust-fest as the two woman come off as incredibly stupid and shallow in their worldviews and knowledge.

That BRÜNO does have some sharp social commentary is a solid attribute, but the film is mostly concerned with creating vastly inappropriate gags for the sake of bad taste hilarity, and at that it succeeds wonderfully. Bruno’s adoption of an African baby, as inspired by Madonna and Angelina Jolie, is twisted brilliance, especially during the scene in which the baby arrives in a large box with holes in it to the luggage pick-up area an airport. Bruno’s time spent hunting and camping with some good ol’ boys in Alabama or at a straight swingers’ party shows Cohen to be fearless, as he gives us much to laugh and shake our heads at.

With BRÜNO, Sacha Baron Cohen did what seemed to be impossible. He made a movie even more offensive, and even more funny, than his previous film BORAT. Way to go, Sacha, now it’s time to sit back and watch all the hate letters, death threats, and probably even a few attempted exorcisms coming rolling in from the people that will find your brand of comedy to be vile and disgraceful.

Note: This review has been changed since originally being published