[Rating: Rock Fist Way Up]
First of all, in case you’re not familiar with his work on Parks and Recreation or his in your face game show, Billy on the Street, Billy Eichner is a goddamn national treasure. Sure, he’s over the top, and yeah, he can be a bit much, but that’s kinda what’s awesome about him. Just watch him on Parks and Rec, dude steals scenes left and right. His debut film as a screenwriter, Bros (comprised of an entirely LGTBQ+ cast), is a fun gay rom com that is as clichéd and ridiculous as it is self aware.
Bros is the story of Bobby (Eichner), a neurotic and grumpy podcaster turned LGBTQ museum curator, who refuses to believe there is a relationship out there for him. When he meet Aaron (Luke Macfarlane) at a club, he assumes he’s just another dumb, gay shirtless guy who can’t hold a conversation. The reality is, Aaron is a lawyer who hates his job and doesn’t think anyone will truly love him for the type of dude he really is deep down, so he lives a life of one night stands, avoiding anything that might lead to…ugh…feelings.
I’m not a rom-com guy. They’re all the same, gay or not. But honestly, as a straight man, I will say, I found it interesting to watch because you have kinda the split mind set of every man on display here. As a man who is comfortable in my own skin and sexuality, I can only imagine trying to date another dude would frustrating as hell. We are a different breed. We don’t make any sense. And it was fun to see that duality of the male idiocy and hypocrisy of how we deal with our feelings and intimacy on display.
And it all comes from Eichner’s screenplay, which he co-wrote with director Nicholas Stoller, and their ability to write characters who are more than your stereotypical gay male, make them interesting and give them depth even if they’re all pretending they’re not in a cheesy, silly romantic comedy.
What makes this different from other rom coms? Not much when you’re looking at the screen. The main characters are gay, most of the supporting characters are gay. Other than that, it’s not much different from any other rom-com, really. It’s just as stilly, cliched, goofy and predictable as any Sandra Bullock movie. But it has heart. And dude, when Eichner sings. That’s him, the Billy on the Street guy that runs up to New Yorkers and screams GAY in their faces. Dude sings like he coulda been in the Rat Pack.
And this is the first major gay rom com released by a major studio.
I’m not gonna nitpick this one because it is everything it needs to be: a fun, feel-good movie with big laughs. It’s not perfect. As much time as this movie spends trying to be self-aware of the type of clichéd rom-com it is and everything it’s trying to show you that it is not — there’s a whole ‘love is not love’ theme that feels a little bit more like greeting card speak and not a fully realized philosophy.
And at right about 2 hours, it’s a bit long in the tooth, some of the beats are pretty worn in after a while and you just want them to get where they’re going. But it never drags and there are so many fun performances and cameos that it makes waiting through all the predictable character turns worth it.
Bros is not going to break any glass ceilings in the romantic comedy genre. But as predictable and by-the-numbers as they get, this one manages to make it worth your attention with big laughs.
Lover of movies and tacos. Ad man. Author. Member of the Kansas City Film Critics Circle and the Broadcast Film Critics Association. Founder of the Terror on the Plains Horror Festival. Creator and voice of the Reel Hooligans podcast.
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