Brüno builds a band of brothers

Putting the boi in boisterous, Frank J. Avella at New York Cool has seen Brüno, and I get the feeling he enjoyed it:

Bruno is one of the funniest films of the decade. How dare I make such a bold statement? Am I just looking to be quoted? Actually, I’ll go one step further, after seeing the movie, I defy anyone to name another film that has come out in the new millennium that is as hilarious, daring and makes some very important statements about the way we treat people based on appearance, actions as well as sexuality. C’mon! I dare you!

…The genius of Sacha Baron Cohen (a practicing Orthodox Jew) is that there are no limits to how far he is willing to go to expose intolerance. He doesn‚Äôt push the envelop as much as blast it into the stratosphere.

Looking past the laughs, Harvey Karten’s companion review at New York Cool finds relevance in the broader context of that laughter.

As you leave the theater after viewing Bruno, you may ask yourself: if Californians had seen this movie before voting on Proposition 8, which side would have increased its leverage? The knee-jerk answer might be that gays are portrayed in such an outrageous manner that Proposition 8, which changed the California Constitution to add a new section (7.5) to Article I, which reads: “Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California,‚Äù would have passed in a landslide. I‚Äôm thinking, though, that when people of an oppressed group are ready to laugh at themselves publicly, in front of the a more conservative public representing the status quo, the group must be feeling more comfortable about themselves and by extension, the mass public would be more accepting of them.

As Br√ºno snuggles in between Dillinger and Harry Potter this month, we’ll all get a chance to see if we’re ready to join the mardi gras entourage. Reviews like this make me think we’re going to need a bigger float.