BRUNO!

SACHA BARON COHEN is a comedic genius and I can prove that thought with his latest offering of the obscene and sometimes macabre BRUNO. He takes no prisoners this time out and rolls the dice while not caring where it lands or the success that could come. He seems to be the only major comedic actor that takes chances at offending. There are a lot of other great comedic actors out there in today’s world of cinema culture, but very few that break the rules, most of the time they just play it safe. That is what separates SACHA BARON COHEN from the rest and makes him stand out more so amongst his peers.
BRUNO is the third character to be made into a film from his wildly original series DA ALI G SHOW. ALI G IN DA HOUSE was the first film he decided to make, and it was lackluster compared to the show, but it still had its moments of dumb hilarity. The second was BORAT and its title name is too long to type into this sentence structure. BORAT became an unexpected comedy classic, which was a surprise given its content of cringe humor. Now we have BRUNO a film that goes far and above the expectations of what people are expecting.
It is a mock documentary just like BORAT and focuses on the fired gay Austrian fashion reporter BRUNO. After this he travels to the United States to become a superstar, and along the way he gets into a lot of unforgiving trouble. There are so many moments in this film that are funny I couldn’t stop laughing.
The moment he tries to get RON PAUL to make a celebrity sex tape is just one of the few scenes that are tame. There is also the moment he interviews a MOSSAD agent in ISREAL and comes close to death. I don’t know how he was able to accomplish this feet, but I applaud him for his effort. Death is nothing to this man just as long as he can get a great laugh out of it.
Yet even though I believe BRUNO was hilarious and over time will be considered a classic, most people will find it offense, rude, and above all else dangerous. A comedy that can get everyone upset is something far above THE HANGOVER and a little less than a JACKASS episode. But if you mix that type of humor together BRUNO is what you got.
You know you got problems when GLADD has an argument with your film, even though the accusations they have thrown at it are totally exaggerated. BRUNO is a comedy you will either love or hate; unfortunately for me I loved it.
Even though most of this film’s success can go to SACHA BARON COHEN we must not forget about LARRY CHARLES. He is the director of this insane film and without his comedic eye just as he did in BORAT; it could have turned out to be a completely different comedy. LARRY CHARLES is finally getting his due in comedic directing circles, and it will be very interesting to see what he does next. Let’s just hope that he sticks to comedy and doesn’t take BOB DYLAN up on another film.
Bruno will either catch on with audiences over a period of time or it will completely fall off. If the second opinion I stated actually occurs it could only be for one real reason, the film is to GAY for mainstream audiences. And if that ends up happening the humor behind the film will touch on irony. Even though the humor in BRUNO is really stupid, the underlined context is how people (especially) in America are extremely homophobic. I hope audiences can prove this point wrong and actually mature with a sexuality that seems to be uncomfortable for them. If not we have a long way to go as a society, and BRUNO is just the bench mark on that journey.

THE JUDGEMENT CALL: Another flawless comedic masterpiece by SACHA BARON COHEN and director LARRY CHARLES. If you don’t find this film remotely funny after viewing it, please do us all a favor and hang yourself.

NEGATIVE ASPECTS: Nothing with the film, but the rating is another matter. Even after it has been edited down it still should have gotten an NC-17 rating. So parents please don’t take your child to see this, because if you do you are just as likely to sit down and watch a porno with them as well. And if you’re a parent like that please do us all a favor and jump off a bridge.

PUBLIC ENEMIES

It is safe to say that JOHNNY DEPP is the greatest actor living in the world today, outside of TONY LEUNG. If you look back at his entire film career and mirror it against any other actor, it would be an embarrassment. JOHNNY DEPP has done so many films that even the bad ones still stand up, I mean I can’t think of anyone who hasn’t seen a JOHNNY DEPP film. Whether it is PIRATES OF THE CARIBEAN or FEAR AND LOATHING IN LAS VEGAS, his resume can fill anyone’s background or mood.
All his new film PUBLIC ENEMIES does is solidify this fact and adds to his legend as an actor. Here JOHNNY DEPP portrays famous outlaw of the depression era JOHN DILLINGER to extravagance. What separates DILLINGER from the rest of his outlaw counterparts of the same decade is that he was all about the work, not necessarily the carnage. He didn’t like to kill cops or regular civilians if he didn’t have to, plus he always had the common folk on his side. Maybe that is why his legend still outshines even the most popular of outlaws to this very day, or maybe it is because we will never have another DILLINGER to take the headlines like he once did. Whatever the reason this film delivers on 90% fact, 5% legend and 5% Hollywood and JOHNNY DEPP’S powerful performance takes you along for the ride.
The films main focus is on DILLINGER’S life through 1933-34. It submerses it’s self in what his surroundings were like and what his lifestyle was, all of which was fast and no thinking of tomorrow. The other half of the film takes the point of view and search of DILLINGER through FBI agent MELVIN PURVIS’S eyes, played extremely well by the most underrated actor in Hollywood today CHRISTIAN BALE. His performance is quite and has little emotion other than what he is focused on, the job, the same as DILLINGER. Their work is there life and the both of them have to work to achieve what they want. DILLINGER strives for the excitement and the catch of a good heist, PURVI’S strives at working his way up the FBI latter. Now whether PURVI’S motives are for fame or just a higher rank amongst the FBI is never specified, but none the less the taking of DILLINGER is a must on his list.
Another great performance from the film comes from none other than BILLY CRUDUP, a fantastic actor, who portrays a very young and less creepy J. EDGAR HOOVER. His performance is so on point that he practically outshines every actor he is on screen with, at least for the little time he is actually on the screen. I can hear a best supporting actor OSCAR coming his way next year, let’s just hope that the voters agree with me.
Another great actor who is actually put to horrible use at least in my opinion is MARION COTILLARD as BILLIE FRECHETTE. She is so talented and beautiful it is just a shame that her character didn’t have more depth on film. She is just typically DILLINGERS love and goes along for the ride, yeah she has a say here or there, but nothing of major proportions. Yet this story line is actually the only drawback to the film.
PUBLIC ENEMIES was so close to being a masterpiece it is actually tragic. The love story really drags the film down; it takes up at least thirty minutes of screen time, maybe a little more or less, but around that ball park. If the love story was shorten to maybe teen to fifteen minutes, the film would have been a half hour shorter, and would have clocked in at two hours. We get crazy insane action, great plot development, along with great character performances, and it all moves smoothly, until we have the love story, which devastates it all. Other than that one complaint the film is flawless, except for the minor historical inaccuracies. I mean really what do you expect, it still is Hollywood, and there job is to entertain us, not educate.
MICHAEL MANN is a director who has borrowed from the same playbook as ROBERT RODRIGUEZ and has embraced the digital future. The entire movie is filmed digitally and looks beautiful. This film along with ONCE UPON A TIME IN MEXICO and APOCALYPTO will be the reason why Hollywood will stop using film. All three of these films look great on digital and really show its promises; all MICHAEL MANN has done is elevate it to major proportions. He has also crafted the best gun shoot out sequences in the history of cinema. If you were a fan of his film HEAT, let me tell you, that was just a warm up, PUBLIC ENEMIES delivers the goods.
This film is surely a fighter for BEST PICTURE as well as its acting categories. DEPP will most likely get nominated, now will he win? That is still up for debate. It is still only summer, but we all know he will surely be a contender. PUBLIC ENEMIES is surely one of the best films this year so far, but to call it a flat-out run away masterpiece might be crossing the line.

NEGATIVE ASPECTS: The typical Hollywood love story to lure in female viewers is nothing short of pathetic. The film was very close to being a masterpiece if it wasn’t for this one fault. This story line has cliché after cliché, and does nothing to impact the audience or the storyline. Outside that and the minor historical hiccups, the film is nearly perfect.

THE JUDGEMENT CALL: Worth checking out for the fast paced action and brilliant heist sequences. This film has better action then TRANSFORMERS and has better performances than any other film your likely see this summer. JOHNNY DEPP and BILLY CRUDUP are at the top of their game, and it is surely a game that is worth seeing!