One of the big comedy releases of the summer hits theaters today: Sacha Baron Cohen's "Brüno," the much-anticipated follow-up to his groundbreaking 2006 prank/improv feature "Borat." While the production methodology remains the same, the early response is not as unanimous: even on AST, where comedy fans swooned at Cohen's past efforts, some are questioning whether the film successfully skewers homophobia or if it merely settles for mocking gay culture with broad stereotypes. Even defenders seem to admit it's not as funny as "Borat," and, putting the topic of offensiveness aside, question whether Cohen has gone to the well of his old Channel 4 TV series one too many times. When I heard this film was being made, my first thought was that Brüno is Cohen's weakest character to date, and I wondered why he wouldn't try to invent something new (easier said than done, I know -- just ask Mike Myers).
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