Bruno, the biggest Austrian celebrity since Hitler.

I’m not sure if would’ve been possible to have a camper evening than one I had last week. A double bill of cheesy rom-com The Proposal, followed straight after by Bruno.

…and oh em eff gee. Where do I start?

Now, Borat was a quite likeable character, despites his flaws. He wasn’t in the least bit politically correct, but that didn’t matter as his cheerful naivety made it all acceptable. I’d probably go as far as saying that Borat was one of the best comedies of 2006.

Bruno on the other hand isn’t at all likeable. He’s basically an ignorant, shallow, self-centred, fame hungry wannabe. So the laughs this time come pretty much exclusively from the arse clenchingly awkward situations, others reactions to them and people’s extremely bigoted views and actions, rather than actual scripted lines.

I’d imagine that filming in the deep south of the United States whilst in the guise of a gay Austrian fashion reporter would mean the film pretty much wrote itself, which is fortunate as the general plot is otherwise wafer thin. Bruno, who presents Funkyzeit, a popular fashion show in Austria suddenly finds himself fired from the show and shunned in the fashion scene after causing a stir in a Velcro suit. So he goes to America to find his fame and fortune. And that’s it.

I spent most of the film biting my fist (and that’s not a Bruno-type euphemism before you say it) and hiding in my t-shirt. I honestly can’t remember the last time I’ve cringed so much. Yes, it’s funny, in a painful to watch and almost stressful kinda way. Some parts are really quite funny indeed as you can only be amazed at the sheer ridiculousness, but you are just left wondering at the end of it all how Sacha Baron Cohen didn’t get himself killed or at least sued to death.

7/10.

There’s also a bit of info on t’internet about how much work goes into setting up some of the scenes which is interesting reading. The host of the ‘chat show’ also talks a bit about his role.