BOTTOM LINE: Despite being more evenly handled as a film, and still very funny, “Bruno” is not as successfully funny as “Borat”, and the way sequences are edited makes the proceedings feel more staged than what they actually are.

THE GOOD: Sacha Baron Cohen is at it again, this time with Bruno, a gay Austrian fashionista who wants to become super-famous. As with “Borat”, Cohen unleashes this offensive stereotype on Americans who do not know any better, and quite often comes up with hilarious results. For example, Bruno wants to do a fashion shoot for himself with kids and his interviews with the mothers have to rank as downright embarrassing for those mothers as they basically agree for their babies to do anything he suggests. Bruno’s attempt to become straight is hilariously realised when he visits a “gay converter”, someone who specialises in turning gay people straight. This God-fearing individual is prime fodder for Bruno, as is the obligatory “make fun of a crowd of red-necks scene” when he manages to turn a staged fight in a boxing ring in to a love-making session with his assistant. This last scene is so funny, particularly with the reactions of the red-necks, that Cohen could have made the whole film about it. As a piece, the film is better constructed and evenly-handled than “Borat”, from the hilarious title sequence to the scripted sequences which link all the improvised sequences together. “Bruno” is a very funny film which manages to push the boundaries of comedy and the genre of the mockumentary in general.

THE BAD: Despite its very funny sequences, “Bruno” is not as funny as say the first half of “Borat”, largely because the title character is not as funny in concept. Borat was an ignorant, dumb and innocent immigrant, whereas Bruno can be classed in the more arrogant, stuck-up and not-classy category. When Borat insulted people, he looked like he did not mean it. When Bruno insults people, you get the sense that he is in on it. This leads to another problem with the film; despite all of its improvised sequences which are quite obvious, the way the film is put together gives you the feeling that a lot of these scenes could have been staged even though they are not. The swingers party sequence for example feels half real (when Bruno is arguing with one of the men) and half staged (when Bruno is being assaulted by an aggressive female swinger in the bedroom). The talk show sequence feels completely staged. As a result, “Bruno” does not have that raw energy that helped make “Borat” such a success, even though “Bruno” is likely to be just as financially successful as “Borat”.