Even a routine, bland rom-com can be revolutionary when it comes to what kind of love is portrayed. While there have been plenty of queer romance stories in the past, “Bros” represents a major step forward for queer cinema, as it is the first major studio rom-com to not only star two gay men, but be written by one as well. There are plenty of little asterisks that could be drawn all over that statement, but at the very least, “Bros” represents a major step for queer representation. But is the movie any good?
Billy Eichner (“Billy on the Street,” “Difficult People”), who also co-wrote the film with director Nicholas Stoller (“Forgetting Sarah Marshall,” “Neighbors”), stars as Bobby Leiber, an opinionated podcaster living his best single life in New York City. His life is thrown into disarray after he begins to see Aaron Shepard, played by Luke Macfarlane (“Brothers and Sister,” “Killjoys”), a man far more casual about his queerness than Bobby. As the two clash over their perceptions of relationships and their own queerness, Bobby also faces stresses at work as he attempts to find funding to open the first National LGBTQ+ History Museum in Manhattan.
On a base level, the film’s romance is wonderful. Eichner and Macfarlane have phenomenal chemistry, making it not only easy to root for their relationship, but care about them as individual characters as well. Eichner’s arc throughout the film also seems like a reaction to the complaints people have had about him over the years, and the close resemblance to his real-life personality helps to strengthen it. The support cast is all great without ever really standing out. Each character is lovable and funny, with plenty of cameos and joke roles sprinkled throughout.
Stoller’s previous experience within the rom-com genre is used to great effect here. Sure, it follows a pretty strict set of cliches and routines, but they’re executed well. This is an example of a director who knows the formula and visual stylings of this genre so perfectly that he can effortlessly navigate them. It’s all shot cleanly and wonderfully, with plenty of colorful streets and hazy evening strolls. Nothing here is revolutionary in terms of the filmmaking craft, but its all executed nearly perfectly.
It wouldn’t be a Judd Apatow produced R-rated comedy without a healthy dose of raunchy humor, and while the sex jokes and foul language is certainly here, the best parts of the film are the weirder bits of humor. The very specifics jabs at various aspects of queer and straight culture are pointed, but there are also consistent jokes at the expense of the Hallmark channel and most other queer films that have been released over the last two decades, as well as a truly surreal and hysterically odd “Night at the Museum” sequence towards the film’s end. It’s easy to label a comedy as laugh out loud funny, but “Bros” might just legitimately be the funniest movie billed as a comedy to hit theatres in a long time.
If there’s one aspect of the film that will draw plenty of debates, it’s the political content of it. Not the fact that it merely features queer people, but Eichner’s character is constantly bringing up his lifestyle and aspects of it in the context of the gay movement. There are certainly points made about queer people living outside of their own spaces, masculinity and the idea of how you present versus who you really are, and the idea of feeling like you have to fight for change just because you’re in a marginalized group, but it can feel overwhelming at times. Sometimes it’s a well-made point that fits into the scenario, and others it feels like a moment where it just didn’t belong and like it just takes time away from the film’s central romance.
“Bros” is a funny, lighthearted romp of a romance, with just enough of Eichner’s trademark salty sense of humor mixed in to give it a bite and flavor of uniqueness. He and Macfarlane have great chemistry, and the overall film just feels like a big warm blanket of romance and sweet guffaws. Some scenes can feel like medicine with Eichner’s commentary, but it never drags the overall experience down. It’s just a really, really funny movie, tinged with romance and sweetness. You might even say it’s a big gay movie. 4.5/5
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