Two Bros, sitting in a hot tub, five feet apart coz they’re not gay! Or are they? In this arms-race, they are! Raging. But hey-hey-hey, what’s all the hubbub about? Billy Eichner reckons straight people are boycotting his movie, and The Daily Wire says people don’t want their disinterests jammed down their throats… I just want to see a damn good comedy movie! If it has to come to us through the lens of a homosexual relationship, then let’s do this thing. I like Billy Eichner as the ballsy guy in Billy on the Street, and his Timon from The Lion King (2019) was actually one of the most positive surprises of that movie for me. And along with Eichner, Bros is co-written by Nicholas Stoller, who’s had a serious hit in this genre before, with Forgetting Sarah Marshall. So, go Bros – tickle my giblets or send me to hell!
Bobby Lieber (Billy Eichner) is a lonely intellectual podcaster, working on a committee to construct the first ever LGBTQ+ museum as well. His sex life is active, but vapid dating apps make it seem like rinse and repeat, where no real connections are ever made, and the idea of monogamy seems a leap too far. Enter, Aaron Shepard (Luke Macfarlane) – a beefy attorney living a casual life, but also not exactly sure what he’s missing. After a few encounters, both men realise how different they are, but an intangible attraction keeps them circling each other, coming back for more ❤
I needed a little help with this one. Usually, nearly always, I don’t seek out any outside influence on a movie before I’ve jotted down an opinion of my own. But with an 88% on Rotten Tomatoes, I needed some additional perspective to figure out what I was missing before I dismissed Bros out of hand. I went to my friendly professionals at YouTube channel ‘Breakfast All Day’ for their enlightened insights. And I will say this – when I was university, I did a piece on the historical patterns of homosexual representation in cinema (they were usually tragic, comedic or villains until recently), and after I delivered my speech, the LGBT+ portion of the class lit up, and I hadn’t realised how happy they’d be to be seen. This movie is a huge step forward towards equalising a homosexual foothold in a mainstream community, and I consequentially gained some insights into gay culture I didn’t have before. For example, here in Australia, we know about Black History Month, but it’s good to have my eyes opened to the fact that homosexual history would’ve been washed away too. I also think I found some common ground in the debate regarding what to teach eight-year-olds (Grade 2s), because whilst I do think it’s too young for them to be learning about sex, learning about homosexual peoples and their relationships is agreeable, especially when I’m sure they would already know, through either themselves or their peers, with a daddy and a daddy, or two Mummies. I felt seen by Bobby pointing out that movies I love, like Call Me By Your Name and Brokeback Mountain, have developed a pattern of straight actors playing gay to be nominated for Oscars. And for some reason, I’ve never registered the sensual implications of being a top and a bottom – heterosexual men only get to be the hammer, while women are the nail, and I’m jealous of the versatility (I don’t think pegging counts, as a material extension of the body, but meh, what do I know?).
So, I’m learning, but as a movie, which is what this really is, I’ve had to really think about what didn’t work for me in Bros, and I think it comes down to the main character. We are told Bobby looks angry, but we’re never really shown it… Dare I say, I would’ve enjoyed a more exasperated Bobby, like Billy’s Billy on the Street, but I understand, perhaps the choice, to internalise his frustrations, possibly aiming to avoid coming across as cliché in a respectful gay romance. It’s so funny to me how similar this movie is to Trainwreck – a protagonist with an intellectual project, meets a guy and must work through commitment issues, which ends in an OTT romantic gesture to win affections – yet one I’ve already watched twice, and this one I never want to see again. When Amy Schumer does that cheerleader routine at the end of Trainwreck, it’s not great, I can endure it, but when Bobby steps up to sing his ‘song he didn’t want to talk about’, I found it so cringy. Maybe I’m dead inside, and the romance genre is up against it if it isn’t When Harry Met Sally. But a big difference between Bros and Trainwreck is how humorous Trainwreck is to me – contributions from comedic legends, Colin Quinn to Dave Attell, go a long way. I like Jim Rash, Dot-Marie Jones, and Debra Messing, but either this comedy is not for me, or they are nowhere near as funny. And if the movie’s not funny, all I’m left with is a cute romance story. And even then, Bobby mentions more than enough how Aaron mustn’t find him physically attractive when he’s clearly got it going on, and when Aaron tells Bobby to reign it in with his parents, it seems more a misunderstanding, hitting on Bobby’s insecurities admittedly, but not a fundamental blip as their personalities clash, like it could’ve been if Bobby was more outwardly charged. I suppose I did want both characters to find happiness, of course… I reveled in how Aaron wanted a subdued life, but how that was never an option for Bobby, who’s socially stimulated, loud and proud – that’s a good angle. Maybe my experience is like that of Funny People – I went into that movie expecting to laugh out loud, and I got turned off by what was more a drama in reality. But also, let’s be honest, I think it’s true that if I’m watching a romcom then I’m probably attracted to the girl and wanting to live vicariously, or I’m relating to the guy’s trials and tribulations – in the same way that a horror movie is just fantasy, but a good one can wriggle into our primitive brains and still give us a fright. But as a dull straight male, none of that was there for me. I was like a negatively charged ion.
I didn’t want to ignore this movie, especially after listening to the team at ‘Breakfast All Day’ speak so passionately about Bros. But I’ve also got to be honest in relaying my point of view, adding another perspective to the conversation. I don’t think Bros is all that great – take out Bobby’s brilliant showstopping speech on the beach (which IS absolutely brilliant), the hilarious orgy scene with Steve, and the dinner argument punctuated by the silliest Grease number, and I’d throw the rest in the garbage. All I can offer is the clichéd, ‘I’m glad it exists for the people who enjoyed it.’ But I am glad it exists for the people who enjoyed it – and I admire that established comedian Billy Eichner got to write his love story in the same way that Kumail Nanjiani wrote The Big Sick, Pete Davidson wrote The King of Staten Island, like so many others have done over the years. Movies are a vessel to explore ideas, and present perspectives to a wide audience – at least I take from Bros one or two things I didn’t have before.
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