PDA

View Full Version : What the Critics are Saying about RP - From Brüno




Mani
07-13-2009, 07:05 PM
Someone mentioned this should be a thread of it's own. Please put this topic where appropriate.


Here is a large sampling of what movie critics are saying about Ron Paul in the movie. A couple say negative things about RP using the word *****. A couple took great enjoyment out of it. Some say he acting like anyone would, and a bunch of critics said they felt sorry for him or that it was cruel.

I ignored the reviews that simply stated he was in the movie or was punked, I was looking for reviews that had an opinion on what they saw on the screen.

I listed the link back to the critic if you want to make a comment on the page (some of them have a lot of comments on RP) or if you wanted to send an email to the critic. I also listed if they gave the flick a positive or negative review. Surprisingly a lot of the people who liked the movie, actually didn't think what they did to RP was funny.

(positive review)
...But Brüno's attempts to lure the unsuspecting Ron Paul into bed just come off as unsavory and cruel: Paul politely tries to avoid Brüno's obvious advances, nervously casting his eyes around the room and attempting to pick up some random reading material as a distraction. No matter how you feel about Paul's political views, in this instance he's cast as an older, straight guy who's being made to feel uncomfortable by a performer who'll go to great lengths for a laugh. (In a radio interview, Paul says that Cohen's people had told him he was going to be discussing "Austrian economics.") Paul's anguished embarrassment doesn't make a very good punch line; the best part of the sequence is a quip Brüno makes at the end....
http://www.salon.com/ent/movies/revi...uno/index.html


Negative Review:
One ambush was clearly the real thing, a mirthless encounter with Ron Paul, the Libertarian Texas Representative and former presidential candidate, during which Brüno strips seductively to his skivvies. But the result is only embarrassment. Mr. Paul, disgusted, wants nothing more than to be out of there, and you can’t blame him.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...143585126.html

Positive Review:
The more uncomfortable Brüno makes people, the more he draws attention to their petty churlishness and homophobia. When
 he ambushes the maverick politician Ron Paul with a go-go dance, you can forgive a visibly shaken Paul for thinking Brüno is nuts — though that's hardly an excuse for calling him ''*****.'' Yet is Brüno the scurrilous man-tramp himself a homophobic caricature? My honest answer is: yes and no.
http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20290024,00.html
(Because ***** is just a horrible insult)..

Positive:
And an attempt to make a sex tape with former presidential candidate Rep. Ron Paul probably cost some poor advance person his or her job.
http://www.jsonline.com/entertainmen.../50384917.html

Positive Review:
Enter politician Ron Paul. But when Brüno starts up the sexy music, lights some candles, and begins gyrating his pelvis, Paul flees the room. However, unfortunately for the politician, he does so while raving about Brüno being "*****".
http://movies.about.com/od/bruno/fr/bruno-review.htm

Negative Review:
That includes throwing his crotch at the camera and trying to shoot a sex video with an understandably terrified Ron Paul.
http://www.boston.com/ae/movies/arti...o_is_no_borat/



Negative review:
...Many setups that seem as though they should work don't. In one scene, Brüno gets former presidential candidate Ron Paul in a hotel room and tries to seduce him. Paul rushes out of the room horrified, and guess what, it's not funny: A serious, accomplished man takes time out to do an interview. He's treated appallingly, reacts with anger ... and we're supposed to think less of him? Don't think so...
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...TL&type=movies

Negative Review:
what's here is that signature blend of funny and disturbing that Cohen has built his brand on. But the movie takes on homophobia, too, and almost none of it works.

There's a guerrilla interview with Ron Paul, back when he was still a maverick candidate for president, that curdles into chaos when Brüno attempts to seduce the understandably freaked-out congressman. "He's *****, crazy, he put a hit on me," Paul exclaims as he storms out.
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcont...1.28681a8.html

Positive Review:
I felt bad for some of the folks, such as Ron Paul and the poor preacher he picks on.
http://crunchonthis.com/

Positive Review:
At times I thought Baron Cohen's choice of unwitting subjects a little too easy (the climactic cage wrestling match is pretty much a "let's shoot fish in the barrel" moment), and other times a little too queasy (a scene in which Brüno seduces Congressman Ron Paul is undeniably unsettling, yet Baron Cohen justifies his choice of Paul with a misnomer punchline).
http://dc.bilerico.com/2009/07/the_bruno_effect.php

Negative Review:
Cohen goes after Harrison Ford who blows him off beautifully, American Idol’s clueless and gullible Paula Abdul, and politician/former Presidential candidate Ron Paul who gets justifiably angry when he is victim of the most vicious prank of all.
http://www.tri-cityherald.com/1190/story/642952.html

Positive Review:
But you feel sorry for congressman and presidential candidate Ron Paul, who is lured into a hotel suite to be interviewed by a foreign “journalist” and finds himself confronted with a prancing fellow in a thong. He reacts about the way you’d expect a hetero 72-year-old male would.
http://www.kansascity.com/710/story/1313793.html

Positive Review:
If you are uncomfortable with the ''gotcha'' nature of prank comedy, know that not everyone comes off like an ignorant bigot: Paula Abdul fares slightly better than Ron Paul (who clearly needs a new publicist),
http://www.miamiherald.com/entertain...y/1133712.html


Positive Review:
http://www.twincities.com/movies/ci_12793237
The best parts are the ones that feel real. Bruno's interview with former presidential candidate Ron Paul, for example, works because it's clear Paul (or "Ru Paul," as Bruno calls him) is genuinely annoyed that Bruno keeps coming on to him.

Negative Review:
It’s also a mean-spirited affair, especially when Bruno makes a sexual pass at former presidential candidate Ron Paul.
http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/sacha-b...-hes-no-borat/

Positive Review:
This is when Bruno scarily scores highest.. not when he tricks former Republican presidential hopeful Ron Paul into a hotel bedroom and drops his trousers. It's not funny...it's actually the entrapment of a bewildered old man.
http://movies.sky.com/review/bruno

Positive Review:
But the film's most glorious scene is absolutely real. Bruno interviews Texas congressman and would-be US presidential candidate Ron Paul in his hotel suite, and then attempts to seduce him to create a sex tape that will kickstart his celebrity career. It is sublime. Baron Cohen's nerve is incredible; Paul's outrage and horror are unmistakably the real thing, and the mistaken-identity punchline is a classic. Did Baron Cohen and his writers, Dan Mazer, Pete Baynham, Anthony Hines and Jeff Schaffer, think of the punchline first and then sucker Paul into getting involved? Or did it occur to them later? Either way, it was inspired.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2009/...m-review-bruno
(f' you guardian)

Positive Review:
Real-life victims include the luckless 2008 presidential candidate Ron Paul, cornered in a pre-interview bedroom by a seduction-minded hero before storming incandescently through the exit door, as well as the diehard homophobes set up for shaming. Paul deserved better: his scene seems redundant and a little flesh-creeping. Most other victims in Brüno merit what they get.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/d6916590-6...44feabdc0.html

Negative Review:
Somehow, hewangles an interview in a hotel room with one-time US Presidential candidate Ron Paul, who eventually storms outofthe place, complaining, quite truthfully, that his interviewer made a pass at him. I found his affronted reaction perfectly understandable.
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-en...8-1739708.html

Positive Review:
You have to admire Cohen’s brass neck as he attempts to bring peace to the Middle East clad in Hasidic hotpants or tries to seduce clueless Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul.
http://www.express.co.uk/features/vi...ringe-festival

Negative Review:
Furthermore, the "ambush" mentality of many of the sequences, whether the tactic was necessary or not, further undermines the power of what later ensues. In one scene, Bruno secures an interview with Ron Paul in order to coerce him into participating in a sex tape; while I have no particular sympathy for (or even familiarity with) Paul the politician, I actually felt momentarily sorry for him instead of enjoying the joke. So many of the set-ups are predicated on catching people in inescapable circumstances and then telling them "I'm gay. No, I'm gay! No, I'm GAY!" that when they react with offense (or more often, mild discomfort), their reaction feels too engineered to be meaningful as cultural commentary or even just good comedy.
http://www.cinematical.com/2009/07/09/review-bruno/

Negative Review:
When the bits are undoubtedly spontaneous, moreover, they’re too often just nasty. One involving a clearly unprepared Ron Paul, for example, is likely to leave you more queasy than amused. It epitomizes what, in the final analysis, is the worst offense of “Bruno”—its utter smugness.
http://www.oneguysopinion.com/Review.php?ID=2819

Positive Review:
After this fiasco, Brüno decides he needs to make a celebrity sex tape and confuses senior Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul with RuPaul (something I doubt Brüno would do) and Ron Paul's reaction proves two things - most people try to be polite even in extreme situations and when unwanted behavior is shoved in your face, declaring 'Something ***** is going on here' is a perfectly legitimate response.
http://www.reelingreviews.com/bruno.htm

Positive:
Enter politician Ron Paul. But when Brüno starts up the sexy music, lights some candles, and begins gyrating his pelvis, Paul flees the room. However, unfortunately for the politician, he does so while raving about Brüno being "*****".
http://movies.about.com/od/bruno/fr/bruno-review.htm

Positive Review:
The more uncomfortable Brüno makes people, the more he draws attention to their petty churlishness and homophobia. When
 he ambushes the maverick politician Ron Paul with a go-go dance, you can forgive a visibly shaken Paul for thinking Brüno is nuts — though that's hardly an excuse for calling him ''*****.'' Yet is Brüno the scurrilous man-tramp himself a homophobic caricature? My honest answer is: yes and no.
http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20290024,00.html

Negative Review:
Indeed, many of his "victims" are surprisingly patient. Just because U.S. Rep. Ron Paul eventually runs from a flirtatious strip-tease doesn't mean that his libertarian pronouncements about private behavior are hypocritical.
http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/ent...7?OpenDocument

Positive Review:
Some scenes, however, strike a wrong chord, such as one in which former presidential candidate Ron Paul is duped into participating in a sit-down with Baron Cohen that is a bait-and-switch for something sleazier. Watching this is uncomfortable in the same way it was uncomfortable to struggle through Michael Moore's unwarranted mugging of Charlton Heston in Bowling for Columbine. Even the punch-line - that Brüno thought the politician was RuPaul (the drag queen) - isn't funny.
http://www.reelviews.net/php_review_...dentifier=1708

Positive Review:
The hilarity is stratospherically outrageous, producing gags that pull you up short...a politician (Ron Paul) who spits out the word "*****";
http://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/...28816322/bruno

Negative Review:
The low points in this movie aren't just catastrophic: they're bewildering. The movie just about dies when Bruno spends endless minutes miming oral sex with a dead celebrity as a mortified medium tries not to look at him. The scene in which Bruno tries to seduce Ron Paul for a makeshift porn film is excruciating.
http://www.baltimoresun.com/entertai...,6182581.story

Negative Review:
Toothless hillbillies, religious conservatives, even unglamorous politician Ron Paul who is subjected to unwanted advances, get pilloried. (“I couldn’t even shtup RuPaul,” Bruno sighs.) Ambush humor is mistaken for a form of political debate. As practiced by Baron Cohen, Bill Maher, Jon Stewart and Michael Moore, it signifies how low comedy has sunk during the era of Anti-Bush Liberal Backlash.
http://www.nypress.com/article-20054...he-cinema.html

Positive Review:
At one point, he decides that fame can be acquired by releasing a celebrity sex tape – if he can find a celebrity to have sex with him. His choice: former presidential candidate Ron Paul of Texas, who bolts like a gazelle when he figures out that Bruno is, in fact, hitting on him.
http://hollywoodandfine.com/reviews/?p=1162

Positive Review:
Is Congressman Ron Paul, whom Brüno chooses to confuse with RuPaul, really that clueless or was the Republican presidential candidate only desperate for publicity in allowing himself to be inveigled into Brüno's hotel room for an "interview"? It hardly matters. That desperation is Brüno's universal principle.
http://www.villagevoice.com/2009-07-...d-for-humpday/

Positive Review:
The formula is repeated here, but it's very hit-and-miss. Bruno's hunting excursion with four straight men from Alabama is funny. His attempted seduction of former US presidential candidate Ron Paul is not.
http://guides.news.com.au/couriermai...0&review=77815

Positive Review:
Are we made to feel superior to said butts? But(t) of course! And some of them have it coming. I loved watching (through my fingers) as Brüno tried to manipulate right-wing moralist Ron Paul into taking it up the Hershey Highway for a gay sex tape.
http://nymag.com/movies/reviews/57754/

Positive Review:
It's closely followed by a cringe worthy segment in which Bruno tries to seduce recent Presidential candidate Ron Paul in a hotel room, and while Paul hardly covers himself in glory with his reaction, the joke itself seems unnecessarily cruel in the first place.
http://au.movies.ign.com/articles/100/1000692p1.html

Positive REview:
In both provocative ventures, Cohen cajoles real, unsuspecting people into awkward situations - with hysterical consequences.
This time, Cohen crassly exploits the attitudinal discomfort known as homophobia that's created when heterosexuals, particularly men, encounter aggressive homosexuality. In one scene, sex-crazed Bruno inveigles Representative Ron Paul into his hotel room and tries to seduce him on the pretext of interviewing him about economics; after maintaining his dignity as long as possible, the conservative Texas congressman exits the premises in disgust, muttering, "This guy's a *****. He's crazy!"
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/brun...out_loud_funny

Positive Review:
And, because his creator is, at heart, such a fine actor, Bruno is also amazingly likeable. Even when he’s doing something horrendous, like trying to seduce a frightened Ron Paul or take interview advantage of Paula Abdul.
http://themovieminute.com/photo3.html

Negative Review:
Pic takes a fateful turn toward the queasy, from which it never entirely recovers, with a noxious "Gotcha!" sequence in which Ron Paul, the libertarian-minded recent presidential aspirant, is played for a sap. Charitably willing to sit for an interview, the clearly clueless politico is led into a bedroom, upon which Bruno begins stripping as if in preparation for a tryst. When Paul realizes he's been set up, he storms out and furiously calls his captor a "*****" a couple of times, which will no doubt rankle some of his erstwhile supporters. But his epithets arguably pale in comparison with the venality of his predator's arachnidan motives.
http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117...goryid=31&cs=1

Liberty Star
07-13-2009, 07:14 PM
Great collection of articles.



The more uncomfortable Brüno makes people, the more he draws attention to their petty churlishness and homophobia. When
 he ambushes the maverick politician Ron Paul with a go-go dance, you can forgive a visibly shaken Paul for thinking Brüno is nuts — though that's hardly an excuse for calling him ''*****.'' Yet is Brüno the scurrilous man-tramp himself a homophobic caricature? My honest answer is: yes and no.
http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20290024,00.html
(Because ***** is just a horrible insult)..

ew.com, what's wrong with Bruno Cohen getting that label, he likely received it as a compliment.

http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showpost.php?p=2203399&postcount=9

eduardo89
07-13-2009, 07:19 PM
I like the one by sfgate

angelatc
07-13-2009, 07:54 PM
What was Bruno's punchline?

foofighter20x
07-13-2009, 08:23 PM
What was Bruno's punchline?

That he (Brüno) failed to seduce RuPaul.

Mani
07-13-2009, 09:01 PM
What was Bruno's punchline?


He wanted to become famous in the worst way. He tries to do crazy things celebrities do that make them famous. Paris Hilton/Kim Kardashian/Pamela Anderson and others have made sex tapes on have gotten super famous afterwords.

So Bruno figures he should make a sex tape with a celebrity....Enter Ron Paul.

Bman
07-13-2009, 09:13 PM
My question is do people who are ***** dislike being called *****?

I mean...


"***** Eye for the Straight Guy"

"***** as Folk"

Or is the word ***** one of those I can say it, but you can't type of words.

Anyone who thinks Ron coulda, woulda, shoulda acted better is out of there mind, or being a complete hypocrite.

While it can be funny to make someone uncomfortable, there's no reason to speak ill of the reaction of the person you have tormented.

Liberty Star
07-13-2009, 09:15 PM
At least Pam did not intrude on others rights or privacy to make herself famous. Bruno seems even less artistic than Ron Jeremy.

Bman
07-13-2009, 09:52 PM
Bruno seems even less artistic than Ron Jeremy.

I'll tell you has talented. Any actress who has had sex with Ron Jeremy and successfully acted like they enjoyed it. Yes I said actress, because it certainly would take acting.

jlaker
07-13-2009, 10:00 PM
The metal image of Paul running out the door saying he's a *****, he's crazy, he tried to put a hit on me, makes me want to wet myself.

coyote_sprit
07-13-2009, 10:17 PM
I like the one from Variety and SFGate.

BenIsForRon
07-13-2009, 10:31 PM
I like that most reviewers understood Paul's reaction. Though I wish Cohen had chosen another politician, "He put a hit on me" is still definitely a funny line.

Endgame
07-13-2009, 10:43 PM
I think he reacted more calmly than most hetero males would have. I know homosexuals use the term "*****" all the time and its isn't offensive anymore. Unless you're a leftist homosexual with an agenda to smear Ron Paul and want to be offended.

james1906
07-13-2009, 10:46 PM
I agree with the SF Gate review. The Ali G interview with Pat Buchanan was (and still is) funny. This was crass and sophomoric.

Epic
07-13-2009, 10:53 PM
I like how Salon.com put "Austrian Economics" in quotes.

It's like they haven't heard of Austrian economics...

South Park Fan
07-14-2009, 12:02 AM
I like how Salon.com put "Austrian Economics" in quotes.

It's like they haven't heard of Austrian economics...

I think it had more to do with Bruno's character being Austrian, meaning that it doesn't actually mean Austrian economics.

Brooklyn Red Leg
07-14-2009, 03:35 AM
Are we made to feel superior to said butts? But(t) of course! And some of them have it coming. I loved watching (through my fingers) as Brüno tried to manipulate right-wing moralist Ron Paul into taking it up the Hershey Highway for a gay sex tape.

Right-wing moralist? What the fuck? This douchebag that David Eddelstein apparently doesn't even know what the hell Ron Paul stands for. Can anyone find an email addy so we can inform him?

apropos
07-14-2009, 06:23 AM
What's most interesting about this whole Bruno thing is the amount of hand-wringing it has caused on these boards.

We crow about liberty and personal freedom, but when it comes to a situation that arguably goes against mainstream sentiment - the use of the word ***** - some enthusiastically throw Paul under the bus (the nolan article) or go to great pains to explain/reframe Paul's "true" attitude so it fits in with the PC tyranny we live with. These are the heirs of classical liberalism/Rothbard?

If the proponents of liberty are so apologetic and timid about an example of freedom of speech, what hope do we have of protecting and furthering freedom of speech?

inibo
07-14-2009, 07:17 AM
Anyone who thinks Ron coulda, woulda, shoulda acted better is out of there mind, or being a complete hypocrite.

He should have punched his light out.

Headline: "Gentle Old Man Decks Clueless Troll"

I'd pay good money to see that.

BillyDkid
07-14-2009, 07:40 AM
What's most interesting about this whole Bruno thing is the amount of hand-wringing it has caused on these boards.

We crow about liberty and personal freedom, but when it comes to a situation that arguably goes against mainstream sentiment - the use of the word ***** - some enthusiastically throw Paul under the bus (the nolan article) or go to great pains to explain/reframe Paul's "true" attitude so it fits in with the PC tyranny we live with. These are the heirs of classical liberalism/Rothbard?

If the proponents of liberty are so apologetic and timid about an example of freedom of speech, what hope do we have of protecting and furthering freedom of speech?Wait, wait, wait - not a single person in here is calling for censorship. But calling out cruel, deceitful and exploitive behavior for what it is is perfectly within the bounds of still believing completely in the first amendment.

Mani
07-14-2009, 07:48 AM
Right-wing moralist? What the fuck? This douchebag that David Eddelstein apparently doesn't even know what the hell Ron Paul stands for. Can anyone find an email addy so we can inform him?

No email for that guy. The "Contact us" only gives their snail mail.

apropos
07-14-2009, 07:50 AM
Wait, wait, wait - not a single person in here is calling for censorship. But calling out cruel, deceitful and exploitive behavior for what it is is perfectly within the bounds of still believing completely in the first amendment.

I'm not calling for censorship, nor am I saying that people shouldn't be calling out Bruno. Far from it. My observation deals with the hintings of PC-inspired self-censorship the Bruno movie has seemed to stir on the board.

Reading the Nolan article, for example, leaves one with the impression that Paul's exercise of his right to freedom of speech means Paul can no longer qualify as a libertarian or even a supporter of "basic human rights". In other words, if you utter certain words, you are anti-human and anti-rights. You don't have do anything - just say the wrong word.

The irony is that to meet this prerequisite and become a supporter of "basic human rights" here, one must give up an unknown amount of another basic human right: freedom of speech.

Is this not a call for self-censorship and an advocacy of future censorship on the part of a so-called liberty lover?

Mani
07-14-2009, 07:52 AM
Wait, wait, wait - not a single person in here is calling for censorship. But calling out cruel, deceitful and exploitive behavior for what it is is perfectly within the bounds of still believing completely in the first amendment.

Exactly. There have been no protests from RP supporters marching in front of the cinema with signs asking to ban or censor the movie.

My protest will be a free market protest in that I will NOT go to the theater and see this movie. I won't give them my business.

Kraig
07-14-2009, 09:00 AM
Anyone who looks down on Ron Paul because of this should be slapped across the face. If a man did this to a woman there would be some serious sexual harassment charges (and rightly so IMO) yet when the same thing happens man on man we are supposed to just laugh it off while taking every effort not to offend the offender? :confused:

Ron Paul actually wants freedom for the gay community while Cohen makes them look like a bunch of sexually obsessed morons. Hopefully there are enough people in the gay community that realize this.