Before Bruno: Cohen's Craziest Capers

By ZACH OAT

Updated 6:15 PM CST, Wed, Jul 8, 2009

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What can we expect from Sacha Baron Cohen's latest film? Well, if you've seen Da Ali G Show, Ali G In Da House and Borat, then you know exactly what to expect: ridiculous accents, over-the-top risque humor and unsuspecting Americans caught on film doing and saying things that they probably should have thought twice about.

Of course, Bruno has a lot to live up to, because Cohen has been shocking America (and Britain) for years, and he's done some things that are too shocking to top. Here are ten moments where Cohen knocked us for a loop:

Ali G is Pro-Choice (Da Ali G Show)
B-boy Ali G has discussed the issues of the day with everyone from C. Everett Koop to Boutros Boutros Boutros Ghali, but never was he so close to a hot-button issue as when he attended a Pro-Choice rally and chatted up the Pro-Lifers who were protesting it. After asking a woman how she knew she didn't like abortion if she hadn't tried it, Ali then asked a priest if the reason he had never had an abortion was because he used condoms or fired blanks. Then he beat-boxed over an old lady singing "We Shall Overcome." Righteously funky!

Naked Azamat Wrestling (Borat)
Borat coming out of the shower to find his morbidly obese producer Azamat naked, on the bed, pleasuring himself to Borat's beloved Baywatch fan book, kicked off a massive naked brawl. The battle destroyed the hotel room and led to a lot of incredibly inappropriate wrestling poses before spreading to the hall, the elevator, the lobby and a banquet in the ballroom. Did we mention they were both naked? And that Azamat is incredibly fat? And that Borat was carrying a fist-shaped sex toy the entire time?

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Ali G V. Andy Rooney (Da Ali G Show)
While most of his interviewees were game for anything and put up with a lot to appear cool to the younger generation, Ali G found an unwilling audience in 60 Minutes commentator Andy Rooney, who commented on Cohen's professionalism before they'd even started and berated Cohen's grammar mid-interview. Eventually, he told Cohen he didn't have time for this, and wouldn't even dignify with a response Cohen's question about whether it was because he was black.

Crap in a Bag (Borat)
Despite going to see an etiquette expert, Borat was woefully unprepared for the subtleties of attending a fancy dinner party. For instance, he didn't know that you shouldn't show pictures of your son's penis, or that you shouldn't invite a prostitute to be your date, and that, when leaving the table to go to the bathroom, you shouldn't bring back your excrement in a bag. The dawn of understanding on the hostess' face was priceless.

Frenching NASCAR (Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby)
I can't help but imagine that Talladega Nights would have been a much bigger film in America if there hadn't been so many (hysterical) scenes with Cohen as a gay French rival Formula One driver. In addition to a scene where we meet his husband (played by Andy Richter), the climactic moment of the entire film is Cohen French-kissing Ferrell on the finish line of the big race, as the camera circles around them to the strains of Pat Benatar's "We Belong." Like, a real big kiss. That goes on for a while. It's no Brown Bunny, but it was certainly shocking for a big, mainstream movie that probably had a high percentage of NASCAR fans in the audience.

Getting Pamela Anderson in the Sack (Borat)
She may have been in on the joke, but we weren't prepared for the sheer discomfort inspired by the scene of Borat finally meeting his crush Pam Anderson at a Virgin Megastore book signing. His awkwardness was cute, but his subsequent attempt to force her into a "marriage sack" against her will took a turn for the scary. As patrons and security attempted to stop him, he pursued her across the parking lot until he was tackled, coming off less like a backwards foreigner and more like a dangerous maniac.

Shave-Off! (Sweeney Todd)
Cohen scored a choice role as a child-abusing Italian barber in this 2007 musical, and even had a solo song. Not so much outrageous as just really, really impressive.

The Running of the Jew (Borat)
In a scripted scene set in Borat's fictional Kazakhstani hometown, Cohen highlighted his character's anti-Semitism early on, as a giant-headed, rat-toothed Jewish caricature chased townspeople down the road, followed closely by his wife, an equally ugly, cleaver-wielding cartoon. When the Jew's wife squatted in the middle of the road and laid an egg, and the children of the town swarmed to smash it before it hatched, it was almost as horrific as some of the actual, genuine racism displayed later on in the film.

69ing Eminem (MTV Movie Awards 2009)
When Bruno came down a wire (a guy wire?) at the Movie Awards dressed as Icarus, complete with wings, we expected something like Howard Stern's Fartman gimmick. But when his harness broke halfway down, and he was unceremoniously lowered onto a seated Eminem in the 69 position, bottomless chaps in face, our minds were blown. Again, Eminem was in on the joke, and even rehearsed it earlier, which we can't even fathom, but we were still pretty amazed, given his prior interactions with Triumph the Insult Comic Dog and his rampant homophobia.

Cage Match! (Bruno)
Even before the movie had been seen by anyone, news of Cohen's gotcha filmmaking style began to spread. The most buzzed-about was a staged mixed martial-arts match, in which Bruno grappled with another man in front of an Arkansas crowd drawn by the promise of violence, cheap beer and women. When the "Blue Collar Brawlin'" transformed into a sexy gay make-out session, and the pair stripped down to their underwear, the crowd reaction quickly turned. Because one guy wrapping his legs around another guy and squeezing him into submission is one thing, but doing it in his underwear? Not cool.

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