Brüno — Sacha Baron Cohen doesn’t exactly reinvent the wheel with his follow-up to 2006’s hugely successful Borat; both are mockumentaries spun off from Cohen’s Da Ali G Show, centered around foolish foreigners on the loose in the USA, exposing the small-mindedness of unsuspecting Americans. By its very design, it’s a hit-and-miss brand of humor, as likely to leave you squirming from embarrassment as howling with laughter. Unfortunately, the balance tends to favor the former outcome this time around.
Cohen plays the flamboyantly gay Brüno, host of the fashion and celebrity show Funkyzeit and self-proclaimed most famous Austrian since Hitler. When his show is cancelled, Brüno moves to Los Angeles with the intention of becoming a celebrity. He doesn’t care how he does it — hosting a talk show, starring in a movie, releasing a sex tape or even being taken hostage by terrorists, it’s all just a means to achieving fame. Eventually Brüno realizes the sad truth that all the most famous Americans are straight. His course is clear: he must convert to heterosexuality to make his dream come true.
Perhaps Brüno is more scattershot than Borat because Cohen is attempting to satirize a couple of different things here: America’s obsession with celebrity and its intolerance of homosexuality. Or maybe it’s just that Cohen’s shtick isn’t aging well, and there’s a limit to how many times we’ll find it hilarious that ordinary folks tend to reveal their less-charitable natures when someone is acting like a complete jackass in front of them. (How shocking that Rep. Ron Paul doesn’t take it in stride when his interviewer drops his pants!) That’s not to say there are no laughs to be found here; there are at least three classic I-can’t-believe-what-I’m-seeing segments, including a grand finale involving a steel-cage wrestling match and an audience full of drunken, potentially violent rednecks. Too often, however, Brüno falls back on obviously staged, semi-improvised material that makes it all too clear what we’re watching: a TV sketch stretched beyond the breaking point.
Humpday — Even if you’ve made a strict vow to avoid any film associated with the term mumblecore, you’ll want to make an exception for this hilarious and affecting comedy from Lynn Shelton, in which a visit from an old friend (Joshua Leonard) threatens the domestic tranquility of a young married couple (Mark Duplass and Alycia Delmore). This is the bromance to end all bromances.
I Love You, Beth Cooper — Kudos to the 20th Century Fox marketing team for the pants-melting poster featuring Hayden Panettiere in a tight white tank top, but we still can’t help but notice that this comedy about a nerdy valedictorian (Paul Rust) who declares his love for the school hottie (Panettiere) in his graduation speech was directed by Chris Columbus (Home Alone, Mrs. Doubtfire). Not exactly Mr. Cutting Edge Comedy.
Blood: The Last Vampire — Unfortunately, we have it on good authority that this will not actually be the last vampire, but those of you who are not yet sick of the bloodsuckers who’ve taken over every aspect of the pop culture can sink your teeth into this tale of a butt-kicking vampire hunter (Gianna Jun), adapted from a 2000 anime of the same name.
