Sunday, April 5, 2009

'Bruno' Trailer, Sneak Peek Raise Our Expectations

The "Brьno" trailer has arrived in all its red-banded glory, complete with outrageous public stunts, nude bedroom brawls and adult toy fights. It's a Sacha Baron Cohen production — what did you expect?

As the trailer's opening reminds us, three years ago, Cohen introduced the world to a little-known Kazakhstani journalist named Borat, whose crude, provocative, "lavatorial" — and, of course, insanely hilarious — comedy appalled and enchanted audiences. The movie that bears his name went on to gross almost $130 million at the box office. By all accounts "Brьno" — yet another spin-off of a character from "Da Ali G Show" — is even cruder, more provocative and perhaps even more hilarious than "Borat." And given Cohen's increased exposure this time around, the film is looking to do even bigger business.

Combining the footage in this trailer with word coming out of last month's South by Southwest Festival, where Universal Pictures screened 22 minutes of "Brьno," we can begin to piece together a rough idea of what this still-mysterious movie about a gay Austrian fashion reporter will deliver at movie theaters starting on July 10. Turn back now if you're even mildly spoiler-averse.

The film begins as Brьno gets ready for Milan fashion week. Perhaps in preparation for his assignment, he tries on a see-through plastic blazer and then dons a pink unitard, with matching Ugg-style boots and protruding genitalia. He ends up opting for a jumpsuit made entirely out of Velcro. Backstage at a show by Spanish designer Agatha Ruiz de la Prada, he sticks to curtains and high-priced garments before tumbling out onto the actual runway.

The flamboyant Austrian gets fired for making such a mess of things, and thus begins his journey: He travels to America to become a star. Taking a cue from Brangelina and Madonna, Brьno decides to adopt an African baby. We actually see him remove an infant from a cardboard box (with air holes punched in it, of course) from a luggage carousel at the airport.

From there he stages an outrageous photo shoot (Brьno hugging the baby while wearing a beekeeper suit and surrounded by a swarm of bees) and heads to the made-up "Today With Richard Bay" show, a Jerry-Springer-style talker in which Brьno says he gave the child a "traditional African name: O.J." The show devolves into a full-on brawl.

At some point, Brьno seems to lose custody of the baby and decides to reinvent himself as a straight man. The first stop in this quest might be a Sears store, where he tells an unsuspecting clerk, "You might find this very hard to believe, but I am gay."

Brьno's other attempts to engage in purportedly macho activities include: finding his way into a swingers' party and then into the bedroom with an aggressive, silicone-enhanced woman who mercilessly whips him; joining some sort of military training camp, where he stylizes his uniform with a little help from Dolce & Gabbana; and going on an overnight hunting trip with a group of camouflaged Southerners.

"Look at the four of us," he says as they sit around the campfire. "We are so like the 'Sex and the City' girls."

"Oh, no we aren't either," comes one uncomfortable response.

"I ain't neither one of 'em," another hunter says. "I'm Donnie."

"That is such a Samantha thing to say," Brьno quips.

With more than three months until the movie's release date, we can surely expect much more of "Brьno" to trickle onto the Web. For now, we'll just have to savor this first two minutes and 35 seconds of insanity. Brьno putting his infant on the handlebars of a Vespa? Brьno showing up at the mall handcuffed to a man wearing nothing but boxers and a few leather straps? Sacha, can we have some more please?

Check out everything we've got on "Brьno."

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