DVD Review: Deleted scenes make ‘Bruno’ worth another look
‘Bruno’: The unedited DVD review
Bruno (Sacha Baron Cohen), the fabulous host of Austria’s top fashion TV show Funkyzeit (No.1 in all German-speaking countries sans Germany), has been blacklisted for creating a disruptive scene during Milan Week. He decides to do what every celeb-seeking whore would do: come to America to become famous. When his acting career fizzles shortly after becoming an extra on the set of Medium, Bruno switches gears and becomes a celebrity interviewer. After all, Mario Lopez is doing it.
Poor Paula Abdul. When furniture doesn’t arrive for their chit-chat, Bruno pays off some Mexicans to act as furniture. Witness the hilarity as Ms. Abdul speaks of her sensitivity towards mankind while sitting on a human bench. Later on, after the test screening of his TV pilot is denounced by the panel (on Jamie-Lynn Spears’ fetus: abort it or keep it? “Abort it.”), Bruno intends to gain celebrity by solving that vexing “Middle Earth” problem as he travels to Jerusalem. “Isn’t pita bread the real enemy?” Bruno asks to the Israeli and Palestinian Representatives. “You are confusing Hamas with hummus. We both like hummus, it’s very healthy.”
When Middle East peace looks like a ridiculous waste of time, Bruno tries to get kidnapped by Islamic terrorists (”Your King Osama looks like a dirty wizard or a homeless Santa Claus”), frighten burly, beer-swillin’ good ol’ boys by making out with his assistant (played by Gustaf Hammarsten) in a steel-cage and showing off his new African baby on a talk show.
Many of you have already seen the headlines and saw the trailers so most of the gags are well known. More shocking than the surprising amount of penises in the film, is how quickly [penis] the jokes get old. Considering that the movie is only 83 minutes, this a rather unfortunate situation. Over and over, the audience is pelted with gay joke after bigger gay [penis] joke. Political commentary aside, the jokes and imagery that sold as “shocking” (and most are) become annoying after the first 30 minutes. Bruno shines when the “shock” takes a backseat. It’s during the more subtle moments of the film where Bruno becomes actually funny. When sitting around the campfire with his new hunting pals, Bruno informs his party that he is concerned that he will wake up with a sore…you know, and the awkward silence makes this scene one of the more hilarious of the film.
Besides reenacting the much funnier [penis] Borat but without the authenticity, Bruno appears largely staged with professional actors with the curious case of wondering just how rigged this [penis] entire movie is. That alone makes Bruno a huge [penis] joke. While deceiving people in order to humiliate them is probably hilarious, having some of those yokels in on the surprise is a letdown. Especially when one is [penis] looking to laugh at and mock others.
DVD:
Bruno is presented in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen and comes packed with pristine images and solid coloring. Most viewers probably wouldn’t care about the that kind of presentation in this movie as DVD comes with something a bit more interesting: deleted scenes.
Shown in Bruno are alternate scenes not used in the film involving baseball luminary Pete Rose, LaToya Jackson (this scene was cut shortly after the death of her brother Micheal Jackson), former U.N. ambassador John Bolton, and former Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge. Alongside those epic scenes and a flurry of other scenes cut from the theatrical version of the film. Some of which were removed for good reasons.
The commentary track with Cohen and Charles is interesting. The duo discusses how they set-up and pulled the gags in some of the more elaborate scenes. Some of the insight they share is at times a lot more interesting than the scene itself.
Rating:
