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No elephants were harmed during the making of The Brothers Grimsby, contrary to innuendo, but expectations surely were.

Hope that Sacha Baron Cohen would regain the guerrilla brilliance of his comedy breakout Borat, a decade behind in the rear-view mirror, is now officially abandoned. Sony realized this and cold-opened The Brothers Grimsby at theatres Friday, vainly hoping to dodge critical brickbats.

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Once as rudely uproarious as flatulence at a funeral, Cohen’s shtick now simply stinks. He’s turned into a dumber and crueller version of Benny Hill, stooping without conquering as jokes about obesity, disabilities, AIDS, effluence and orifices spew like a broken sewer pipe.

His obsession with anal cavities and what goes in and comes out of them suggest Cohen is auditioning to be the after-dinner amusement at a proctologists’ convention.

All of this in service of soccer hooligan Nobby, his lamest character yet. Long of sideburns and short of IQ points, Nobby lives in the English backwater of Grimsby, along with his 11 neglected children, his endlessly available wife (Rebel Wilson) and a pub routine of firing skyrockets out of his anus.

The only thing lacking in Nobby’s moronic existence is his beloved younger brother Sebastian, seen in repeated soppy flashbacks, gone 28 years since they were separated as orphaned children.

Little does Nobby know, although he soon learns: Sebastian (now played by Mark Strong) grew up to become the MI6’s greatest spy and hit man.

A ludicrous global terror plot masterminded by a cheque-cashing Penélope Cruz brings the brothers back together, of course, for hijinks of the odd-couple and anally fixated kind.

Which wouldn’t be so terrible, if any of this were funny, which it really isn’t. What few laughs the film elicits are of the groaner variety reserved for dirty uncles at family functions.

Action director Louis Leterrier (The Transporter, The Incredible Hulk) rams yuks home like the aforementioned elephants, who give better than they get from their human violators in the movie’s grossest scene. Clueless about comedy, Leterrier is comfortable only when his camera stares at chases and shootouts like zombie players of video games.

It would be nice to think The Brothers Grimsby is just a bad creative choice by a talented comic. Sadly, it’s part of a decade-long decline. Cohen’s post-Borat film career as lead actor has slowly deflated with Brüno, The Dictator and now this debacle, like air seeping out of a Whoopee Cushion.

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