Bruno Restricted Trailer (2009)

Restricted red band trailer for Bruno:

As created for Sacha Baron Cohen's Da Ali G Show, the gay Austrian supermodel, Bruno, is prepping to runway it up on the bigscreen.

After the film was completed, Bruno had to undergo more editing to remove an interview with LaToya Jackson after Michael Jackson's death. In the interview, Bruno says Michael Jackson is a man he would like to meet with. Another scene depicting Bruno trying to get tickets to a Michael Jackson concert was also cut.

Sacha Baron Cohen worked out, shaved all his body hair and dyed his hair to play Bruno.

Baron Cohen claims that Harrison Ford is in the only scene that was scripted, and that he was the only actor in on the joke.

Audience members in a talk show scene were hired for $50 each and genuinely thought they were attending the taping of a new show.

As comedians go, Sacha Baron Cohen is one of the most intelligent ones out there. His comic creations of Ali-G, Borat, and now Bruno have shocked, outraged and angered many...and also made many of us laugh.

Personally, I've followed his work since his first appearances on a British TV show as Ali-G. I loved that character, but Borat was the one that really stood out for me. The character was so well thought out, so well rounded and so entirely believable, that Cohen fooled many, many people into thinking they were taking part in a genuine documentary. What I also loved about Borat, was that he made people smile. Sure, some were angered, but a lot of those who 'met' him for an interview found him to be quite endearing and they often tried to help him understand.

Bruno is much more 'in your face' much more crude, offensive and really, at times, it makes for uncomfortable viewing. The trailer has clear examples of this. As trailers go, it gives a good overview of what to expect from the film; which is more of the mockumentary style for which Cohen is becoming known. It worked for Borat, right? So it must also work for Bruno too.

Well, wrong. A lot of the jokes here fall flat in the trailer, and things like him illegally gatecrashing a Milan fashion show, or deliberately seeking to rile people up, make for quite awkward viewing. Because of that, the bits of this trailer that are funny, suddenly don't seem as great after all.