When he made Borat, British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen played a dopey foreigner with ease because hardly anyone knew who he was. That movie spawned about 200 lawsuits from unwitting participants who didn’t like being duped, but moviegoers flocked to the mockumentary, which made $260 million worldwide.
In Brüno, opening Friday, Cohen (pictured) hopes to strike rude gold again in the guise of a gay Austrian fashion freak who pushes every hot button he can find.
See also:
Gallery: Best Summer Movie Trailers of 2009
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen Takes Bot Action to Limit
Masterful Moon Takes Shot at Sci-Fi Greatness
Also opening wide: I Love You, Beth Cooper, a nerd-gets-girl romantic comedy starring Heroes‘ impervious cheerleader, Hayden Panettiere. Indie releases include James Brown documentary Soul Power and anime-inspired live-action film Blood: The Last Vampire.
Pick of the week: Brüno. Cohen’s equal-opportunity-offender act yields an avalanche of flamboyantly funny fustercluckery and begs the question: What’s he going to do next?
P.S. If you haven’t had a chance to see Moon, this could be your lucky weekend: Duncan Jones’ tribute to old-school, brainy sci-fi expands into many new markets Friday. (See if it’s playing near you.)
Vote for your favorite new films of the week below.
Brüno Synopsis: Comedian Sacha Baron Cohen reteams with Borat director Larry Charles to play gay fashionista Brüno. In his search for fame, Brüno mingles with talk-show audiences, stages a cage fight in Arkansas and insults a real Islamic terrorist. Rated: R
Mini-review: Invasive comedic genius Sasha Baron Cohen doesn’t stray from his twisted template in Brüno: He’s still luring people into outrageous situations and hitting them with a straight-faced blitz of bizarre behavior. Using the thinnest of plots, he strings together a series of increasingly extreme scenarios for his character — a flamboyant, supergay caricature with a celebrity fetish — to thrash through. It’s not quite as funny as Cohen’s previous movie, Borat, which wasn’t as funny as his side-splitting TV series, Da Ali G Show. But through it all, the comic chameleon’s talent for tormenting others shines through, yielding over-the-top laughs. It’s like Faces of Death of comedy: If you can see the humor in a full-screen close-up of a waggling wang, this foul treasure’s for you. — Lewis Wallace Rating: 
I Love You, Beth Cooper Synopsis: When high school valedictorian Denis (played by Paul Rust) admits during his big speech that he’s in love with It Girl Beth (Hayden Panettiere), he’s shocked to find her at his door that same night. Comedy ensues. Chris Columbus (the first two Harry Potter movies) directs the film based on a novel by Larry Doyle (TV’s The Simpsons). Rated: PG-13
Soul Power (limited) Synopsis: Documentary captures performances by James Brown, B.B. King, Miriam Makeba, Bill Withers and The Spinners during a three-day concert in Zaire leading up to the 1974 Muhammad Ali-George Foreman “Rumble in the Jungle” heavyweight fight. Rated: R
Mini-review: This unused footage from 1996 boxing documentary When We Were Kings captures the sweet, stinging essence of soul music through a deft mix of backstage down time, vivid street scenes and raw performance power. Best of all, cameras bear witness to the sheer brute force of James Brown when he was in his prime. — Hugh Hart Rating: 
Blood: The Last Vampire (limited) Synopsis: Based on the anime TV series, Blood follows vampire samurai warrior Saya (Gianna Jun) as he joins forces with a shadowy Council to attack a U.S. military base filled with deadly vampires. Rated: R
Public Enemies Synopsis: Johnny Depp stars as bank robber John Dillinger in this fact-based crime drama. Set in 1933, the film chronicles Dillinger’s jail breaks and bank robberies that culminated in a historic showdown on the streets of Chicago. In pursuit: Christian Bale, who plays a stern FBI agent reporting to J. Edgar Hoover (played by Watchmen‘s blue wonder, Billy Crudup). Oscar winner Marion Cotillard (La Vie En Rose) co-stars as Dillinger’s girlfriend, Billie Frechette, for co-writer/ director Michael Mann (The Insider, Ali, TV’s Miami Vice). Rated: R
Mini-review: The best live-action movie of the year so far captures one man’s Depression-era crime spree with riveting attention to detail. Director Michael Mann orchestrates a succession of shoot-outs and jailbreaks that are capped by a night-time machine gun fight in the Wisconsin forest that sets a new standard for chaotic gunplay. Dapper Johnny Depp sells Dillinger as a daring Indiana ex-con who genuinely cared for the guys in his gang. Cotillard finds unexpected depths in her saucy coat-check girl while Bale and Crudup play Dillinger’s up-tight FBI pursuers with taut precision. There’s not much in the way of character development — everybody ends up pretty much the way they start out, except some of them are dead — but snappy dialgoue, deluxe production design and real-life locations make Public Enemies a gripping crime saga in the spirit of Brian DePalma’s The Untouchables and Sam Mendes’ Road to Perdition. Dillinger is dead. Long live this “Dillinger.” — Hugh Hart Rating: 
Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs Synopsis: Digital 3-D sequel finds woolly mammoth Manny (voiced by Ray Romano) and pregnant mate Ellie (Queen Latifah) uprooted from their icy climes to a world where dinosaurs roam. When sweet-hearted Sid the Sloth (John Leguizamo) decides he wants his own family and stumbles onto dino eggs, he adopts the little critters, unleashing all manner of prehistoric chaos. Dennis Leary voices Diego the Tiger with Simon Pegg as Buck. Rated: PG
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen Synopsis: Director Michael Bay returns with Shia LaBeouf and Megan Fox in a take-no-prisoners follow-up to the 2007 sci-fi action adventure. Wisecracking everyguy Sam (La Beouf) holds the key to an ancient secret, and evil alien Decepticon robots want it. Global mayhem leads to a showdown featuring nice alien Autobot Optimus Prime and the U.S. military. Written by Ehren Kruger (The Ring) and Robert Orci (Star Trek). Rated: PG-13
Review: Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen Takes Bot Action to Limit Feature: ‘Robot Sightings’ Hype Transformers Worldwide
My Sister’s Keeper Synopsis: Cameron Diaz plays a mother who takes extreme measures to save her leukemia-stricken daughter. Abigail Breslin, Jason Patric and Alec Baldwin co-star for director Nick Cassavetes (The Notebook). Rated: PG-13
Moon (limited) Synopsis: Sci-fi thriller, directed by Duncan Jones (son of David Bowie) and based on his own story idea, stars Sam Rockwell as Sam Bell, a working-class guy nearing the end of his three-year stint mining the moon for helium. His computer, Gerty (voiced by Kevin Spacey), has been his only company, but an unexpected mishap leaves him questioning reality. Rated: R
Review: Masterful Moon Takes Shot at Sci-Fi Greatness Feature: Moon Is Duncan Jones’ Homage to Classic Sci-Fi
The Taking of Pelham 123 Synopsis: Denzel Washington and John Travolta star in remake of taut 1974 thriller about a mastermind criminal (Travolta) and his thugs who hijack a crowded New York City subway train for a $10 million ransom while the dispatcher Garber (Washington) at the other end must figure a way to bring them down. With his best and only weapon — a knowledge of the underground — Garber’s got one hour before the hostages die. Washington again teams with action director Tony Scott (Déjà Vu, Man on Fire) with a screenplay by Brian Helgeland (Man on Fire, L.A. Confidential) based on John Godey’s novel. John Turturro and James Gandolfini co-star. Rated: R
Year One Synopsis: This backdated buddy comedy from director Harold Ramis (Analyze This, Groundhog Day) stars Jack Black and Michael Cera as two hapless hunter-gatherers. Forced to leave their village, Zed and Oh stumble into misadventures of biblical proportions. Oliver Platt and David Cross co-star. Rated: PG-13
The Proposal Synopsis: Sandra Bullock plays a high-powered exec on the verge of deportation to Canada. She forces her put-upon assistant (Ryan Reynolds) to marry her, but only after they take a trip to meet his nutty family in Alaska. Anne Fletcher (27 Dresses, Step Up) directs. Rated: PG-13
Up Synopsis: This digital 3-D animated adventure follows 78-year-old widower/balloon salesman Carl (voiced by Ed Asner), who ties his house to balloons to fulfill a dream to travel to South America. Once afloat, he discovers 8-year-old stowaway Russell (Jordan Nagai). Together they hit the jungle en route to the fabled Paradise Falls. Pete Docter (Monsters Inc.) directs. Rated: PG
Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian Synopsis: Ben Stiller returns as night watchman Larry, who teams up with a miniature cowboy to infiltrate the Smithsonian Institute. There, the inanimate exhibits in the museum come alive as Amelia Earhart and Teddy Roosevelt fight off an angry ancient Egyptian pharaoh, Ivan the Terrible, Napoleon and Al Capone. Shawn Levy directs. Owen Wilson, Amy Adams, Robin Williams and Ricky Gervais co-star. Rated: PG
Star Trek Synopsis: Director J.J. Abrams’ prequel chronicles how James Kirk (Chris Pine) overcomes resistance from Spock (Zachary Quinto) to became captain of the U.S.S. Enterprise. His biggest challenge: Romulan warrior Nero (Eric Bana). Meanwhile, Enterprise familiar crew members Sulu (John Cho), Scotty (Simon Pegg), Uhura (Zoë Saldana), Leonard “Bones” McCoy (Karl Urban) and Chekov (Anton Yelchin) prove their worthiness to the Starfleet cause. Bruce Greenwood and Winona Ryder co-star in the movie, scripted by Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman (TV’s Fringe). Rated: PG-13
Review: Reinvigorated Star Trek Sparkles With Wit, Spectacle Feature: Star Trek‘s Young Actors Step Into Big Space Boots
