Movie Reviews: "Brüno" - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

JamesG · 07-10-2009, 05:30 PM

Movie Reviews: Brüno
10 July 2009 12:15 PM, PDT

Talk about "mixed reviews!"

Not only do those for Brüno from the major critic range from disgusted scorn to ecstatic praise but those sentiments can sometimes be found in individual reviews.

For example, take Roger Ebert's in the Chicago Sun-Times: "The needle on my internal Laugh Meter went haywire, bouncing among hilarity, appreciation, shock, admiration, disgust, disbelief and appalled incredulity."
Ebert awards the film 3 1/2 stars.

In the same paragraph, A.O. Scott in the New York Times praises Baron Cohen as "a brilliant slapstick artist and a master of voices," then concludes that the movie "is a lazy piece of work that panders more than it provokes."

Roger Moore in the Orlando Sentinel calls it a "miss-or-hit mockumentary."

Claudia Puig in USA Today predicts: "You'll cringe and watch through splayed fingers, but mostly you'll laugh."

Carrie Rickey in the Philadelphia Inquirer admits that some of the movie's scenes triggered a gag reflex. "I sincerely can't tell you whether I was choking with laughter or keeping from choking."

Lou Lumenick in the New York Post lauds it for being "more gut-bustingly funny than anything else out there right now," but "for all the laughs -- and they are many -- there's a certain been-there, done that feeling to Brüno."

Jason Anderson in the Toronto Star makes this odd assessment: "Yeah, the movie's funny. Sometimes it's very funny. But when the biggest celebrities who get punked by Brüno are Paula Abdul and Ron Paul, something's gone wrong."

Betsy Sharkey in the Los Angeles Times remarks that Baron-Cohen appears to be one part Lenny Bruce and an equal part The Three Stooges. She concludes: "With Bruce there was always a biting moral to the story. With Larry, Curly and Moe, the message was delivered with a bruising bop on the head. Brüno is easy to dismiss as salacious comedy on the cheap, and at times that's what it feels like. But in a world where mercy is a celebrity adoption and the only pain an adulterous governor feels is his own ('Do Cry for Me Argentina'?), Baron Cohen's instincts for outrage are spot on. It's not insight we need at all right now, but a very sharp bonk on the head."

-IMDB News

Retro4Life · 07-10-2009, 09:42 PM

After suffering through the disgusting and mean spirited "Borat", you couldn't get me to see this film if I was a monkey and you had a bag full of bananas...

*Pleasant Tomorrow* · 07-10-2009, 10:40 PM

Hahaha who cares what critics say, I can't wait to see this sometime this weekend. Borat was hilarious. My friends and I are still quoting it.

A love it or hate it kind of movie, I guess.

Schmoopie · 07-11-2009, 12:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Retro4Life

After suffering through the disgusting and mean spirited "Borat", you couldn't get me to see this film if I was a monkey and you had a bag full of bananas...

Well said! I watched about ten seconds of this garbage (Borat) and it absolutely made me sick.

Cactus Jack · 07-11-2009, 12:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by *Pleasant Tomorrow*

Hahaha who cares what critics say, I can't wait to see this sometime this weekend. Borat was hilarious. My friends and I are still quoting it.

A love it or hate it kind of movie, I guess.

Ditto it's HILARIOUS

07-10-2009, 05:30 PM	#1
JamesG Freakshow Moderator Forum Icon Join Date: Feb 01, 2008 Location: Brooklyn, NY Posts: 57,151	Movie Reviews: "Brüno" Movie Reviews: Brüno 10 July 2009 12:15 PM, PDT Talk about "mixed reviews!" Not only do those for Brüno from the major critic range from disgusted scorn to ecstatic praise but those sentiments can sometimes be found in individual reviews. For example, take Roger Ebert's in the Chicago Sun-Times: "The needle on my internal Laugh Meter went haywire, bouncing among hilarity, appreciation, shock, admiration, disgust, disbelief and appalled incredulity." Ebert awards the film 3 1/2 stars. In the same paragraph, A.O. Scott in the New York Times praises Baron Cohen as "a brilliant slapstick artist and a master of voices," then concludes that the movie "is a lazy piece of work that panders more than it provokes." Roger Moore in the Orlando Sentinel calls it a "miss-or-hit mockumentary." Claudia Puig in USA Today predicts: "You'll cringe and watch through splayed fingers, but mostly you'll laugh." Carrie Rickey in the Philadelphia Inquirer admits that some of the movie's scenes triggered a gag reflex. "I sincerely can't tell you whether I was choking with laughter or keeping from choking." Lou Lumenick in the New York Post lauds it for being "more gut-bustingly funny than anything else out there right now," but "for all the laughs -- and they are many -- there's a certain been-there, done that feeling to Brüno." Jason Anderson in the Toronto Star makes this odd assessment: "Yeah, the movie's funny. Sometimes it's very funny. But when the biggest celebrities who get punked by Brüno are Paula Abdul and Ron Paul, something's gone wrong." Betsy Sharkey in the Los Angeles Times remarks that Baron-Cohen appears to be one part Lenny Bruce and an equal part The Three Stooges. She concludes: "With Bruce there was always a biting moral to the story. With Larry, Curly and Moe, the message was delivered with a bruising bop on the head. Brüno is easy to dismiss as salacious comedy on the cheap, and at times that's what it feels like. But in a world where mercy is a celebrity adoption and the only pain an adulterous governor feels is his own ('Do Cry for Me Argentina'?), Baron Cohen's instincts for outrage are spot on. It's not insight we need at all right now, but a very sharp bonk on the head." -IMDB News
	Last edited by JamesG; 07-11-2009 at 03:27 AM.

07-10-2009, 09:42 PM	#2
Retro4Life Accept No Substitutes Forum Veteran Join Date: Feb 04, 2009 Location: IL Posts: 6,708	After suffering through the disgusting and mean spirited "Borat", you couldn't get me to see this film if I was a monkey and you had a bag full of bananas...
	__________________ Alex Reiger :[Trying to convince Louie not to antagonize Bobby] "It's not hard to make people feel bad about their lives. What's hard is making people feel good about their lives."

07-10-2009, 10:40 PM	#3
Pleasant Tomorrow Member Forum Addict Join Date: Feb 19, 2003 Location: New York Posts: 69,525	Hahaha who cares what critics say, I can't wait to see this sometime this weekend. Borat was hilarious. My friends and I are still quoting it. A love it or hate it kind of movie, I guess.
	__________________ my name is ashlee Welcome! Everything is fine.