Movie Review: Bros

Movie number 37 of 2022

Movie: Bros

Cinema: Hoyts Victoria Gardens

Stars: 4

I was in the mood for a film. Something light and funny. Something a bit different. Something accessible. 

I chose Bros for a couple of reasons. Mainly, it was: 

• Being touted as a romantic comedy
• And a New York story
• And my friend Damo wrote an article in The Conversation about it, which piqued my interest. 

So, I went into this knowing it was a romantic comedy, where the two leads were gay men. 

As a romantic comedy, this really works. 

Bobby (Billy Eichner) is a Podcaster who's also trying to get a LGBTQI+ museum up and running. A New York Jew, he's self-aware, a little self-hating and quite okay with his single status, though he's dating - and if he really digs deep, he's not that happy. (A, joy, Grindr...)

Out one night, he meets Aiden (Luke MacFarlane) a hot, seemingly basic lawyer, who's also not into commitment, but oh, hell, he likes Garth Brooks' music.

And then it follows a normal romantic comedy trajectory, where the two initially don't like each other, but then work out they do, only to settle down for a bit, before falling out, and then, realising all of the things they'd done wrong, get back together after a big production number spells out their feelings for each other. 

In other words, this is pretty much a Sleepless in Seattle or When Harry met Sally - but with gay men as the focus. 

And you know, it works wonderfully. 

Yes, there were quite a lot of in jokes about the "alternate lifestyle", but what makes this a good romantic comedy is that you quickly end up caring for Bobby and Aiden. They're nice people. You want them to do well together. 

It was also great to see a movie about gay love where the characters aren't tragically tortured (think Brokeback Mountain or Boys Don't Cry).  This is delightfully light and fluffy. The only torture going on is the self-imposed self-doubt going on in Bobby's mind (Aiden has a bit of it too). 

And like all good rom-coms, it makes New York look pretty, and everybody lives in places they could never afford and it's just a bit of light fantasy. It's just that this one is queer inclusive. 

Unfortunately, few will see this film. It's a solid romantic comedy. As a closet lover of the genre, it ticked a lot of boxes and kept me entertained. 

And Luke Macfarlane is lovely to look at - gay, straight, pastafarian - I don't care. 

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