An 8-year-old boy named Bruno talks about how he has dreams of being chased by an angel. He then adds more related to his Catholic faith.

The scene then switches to Bruno being bullied at his Catholic school. A nun finds him on the ground and tells him to get off. But he won’t respond.

Knowing that his condition isn’t serious enough to have him hospitalized, the nun picks him up and carries him back into the building. She then leads the students in a song by the same tune and format of “I don’t know, but I’ve been told,” except it’s about Catholic school.

Later, Bruno is in Mother Superior’s office. Mother Superior tells him that he needs to be like the other boys in order to avoid being bullied.

After Bruno is picked up by his mother, Angela, who is very obese, kids continue to pick on him. Bruno also goes to his ice hockey practice, but falls onto the ice. Luckily, he is not that hurt.

However, his father, Dino, who is divorced from Angela, finds out and is unhappy.

That night Angela goes to a local community bingo event. Dino’s new girlfriend, Donna Marie, constantly mocks Angela – particularly for being obese. The 2 end up fighting.

At Bruno’s school, there is a girl who wears a cowboy hat and carries fake guns. Her name is Shawniqua.

When a bunch of kids try to push Bruno out the window, Shawniqua stops them by shooting her pretend guns. However, when the nun teacher comes in and Shawniqua says what happened, the nun won’t believe her. She tries to confiscate Shawniqua’s guns, which Shawniqua frequently refuses to hand in.

After school, Bruno is picked on once again. Shawniqua tries to stand up for him.

Unfortunately, both she and Bruno are called derogatory terms. Bruno is called a F****t, and Shawniqua is called the N-word. Nevertheless, they beat the bullies and win.

On the way home, Bruno and Shawniqua get to know each other. When Shawniqua is feeling cold, Bruno offers to trade his pants for her skirt. The 2 change in a graveyard shelter.

Bruno realizes how much he enjoys wearing dresses. At some point, he wears a dress and a wig when out with Shawniqua – only to get hit by a car.

After he’s discharged from the hospital, though, he will not stop anyone from forbidding him to wear dresses. He even wears a dress in his school spelling bee. Not surprisingly, all the kids laugh at him.

Once again, he is sent to Mother Superior’s office. Angela has been called in, as well.

Mother Superior tries to put Bruno down for wearing a dress at the spelling bee. But Bruno points out that many of the greatest men to have ever existed wore dresses – including the Pope.

But the conversation ends up shifting to Angela’s stress over Dino not wanting her. Mother Superior makes it very clear that Dino is engaged to another woman (which is none of her business at all, though).

At home, Angela breaks down crying. She was so confident that Dino would come and see her. But his police co-workers say that he won’t be here, despite how much they’ve tried to convince him.

Angela continues to really cry hard – only to end up with a heart attack and fall unconscious. Bruno is now petrified.

While sitting in the hospital waiting area, Bruno and his grandma, Helen, find out that Angela will be remaining there for a while. So, Helen takes Bruno home.

At first, she is kind of harsh on him. But she is willing to help him stand up for himself if anyone negatively comments on him wearing a dress.

Progress is being made. What will it lead to?

As a movie released in 2000 and filmed in the late 90s, it was pretty ahead of its time. Back then, cultural standards expected boys to wear pants and dresses and skirts to only be for girls.

But Bruno defied that standard. I’m not going to say if he won or lost, though. You need to see the movie to find that out.

Yet I do admire his goal. It was likely very empowering to boys and men at that time reminding them to be themselves, regardless of cultural expectations.

I was shocked at the use of the derogatory term for gay men, though. Even more so for the use of the N-word, despite how its use still taught audiences that it was wrong.

I really loved Bruno’s friendship with Shawniqua. The 2 had a lot in common.

Bruno’s mother was dealing with obesity and stress while his father was cold and distant from him. And the 2 were divorced.

Shawniqua’s mom had died from breast cancer prior to the events of this film. And her dad was traveling abroad. So, her older brother was watching her.

Mother Superior was not hot-tempered with Bruno, which I appreciated. But I disliked when she put Angela down about her relationship status.

That is a major breach of etiquette, both professionally and in general. Angela should have stood up for herself and reminded Mother Superior of those boundaries. Her personal life, especially when it came to her ex, was none of Mother Superior’s business.

But I did find Dino kind of unlikable. Not only was he spending hardly anytime with Bruno, but he would also call him a Sissy to others – and in front of him.

There were also a few funny moments, especially at the beginning. For instance, the nun leading the students with a march to her version of “I Don’t Know, But I’ve Been Told” was humorous and clever.

This film is actually considered a dramedy. That is when a movie falls somewhere between the light heartedness of a comedy and the seriousness of a drama.

But because I only laughed a few times at the beginning, and the rest of the story was more serious, I consider it more of a drama.

Although this movie is quite unpopular amongst the general public, I ended up enjoying it. The biggest strength is the moral on how it’s okay to be yourself, despite what society says.

I give Bruno 4 out of 5 stars.