Bruno ist die Bombe!

God bless Sacha Baron Cohen. The man has absolutely no fear. When he puts himself in a cage in the middle of an auditorium full of mouth-foaming redneck homophobes and...does what he does...you want to give him a great big medal for bravery. And a great big smooch on his pouty, perfectly glossed lips.

Oh, but the look on the face of the most enthusiastic member of that auditorium crowd when "Bruno"...does what he does...is worth the price of admission alone. There's a man who'll be scarred for life. As well he should be. People like that should be marked so others can avoid them.

Now, I know the GLBT community is of two minds about Bruno, and that a lot of folks think the movie perpetuates the worst sort of stereotypes homophobes have about us. But as for me, I agree with The Flick Filosopher. Sacha Baron Cohen has created a character who represents everything homophobes most fear and hate, and that character is so over the top and unbelievable that when the real people he encounters take him seriously, you realize what absolute lunatics they are. Take, for instance, the karate instructor who teaches Bruno how to defend himself against gays, "who attack mostly from behind." And there's a reason Hitler gets more than one mention in the movie; when you see the run-up to the cage match, you really do begin to think Leni Riefenstahl ought to be there to film it.

On the other hand, that early sex scene with Bruno's "pygmy flight attendant" Diesel is a screaming delight. I'd even go so far as to say it tops the puppet sex scene in Team America: World Police. And there's the bit where Bruno gets "humanitarian" Paula Abdul to treat migrant workers like literal furniture...and the bit where he comes on to Ron Paul, who pretends so very, very hard not to notice what's happening until Bruno drops his pants...and the bit with the vapid sisters who make a business of advising celebrities on which causes they can adopt to earn themselves the most attention.

And of course I mustn't neglect to mention the penis that opens its "mouth" and speaks. Holy crap, that image will be seared on my hindbrain until the day I die.

In other words, go see this movie. And enjoy. Ohhh, enjoy.