by Jacob Kinman, Contributing Writer
Romantic comedies have been a staple of the film industry for ages. From the early screwball pictures of the 1940s, to some of the classics that can be found in the 1980s like When Harry Met Sally and Broadcast News, to the collection of tired and rote films in the genre that followed, romantic comedies have seen countless efforts of evolution and progress. Yet, not until this very year had there been a film of the sort, released by a major studio, that featured a homosexual relationship. That is, until the release of Bros, historic in its queer representation on a global scale.
The film stars comedian and internet sensation, Billy Eichner, as Bobby Leiber, a famous podcaster making his way through life in New York as a single gay man. The film is written by Eichner and Nicholas Stoller, of Forgetting Sarah Marshall fame, who also directed Bros. Comedy icon Judd Apatow is also on as a producer.
Bobby is on the board of a new LGBTQ+ history museum opening in the city, the first of its kind. Its board meetings are hilarious, and feature a murderer’s row of LGBTQ+ actors, including Jim Rash, TS Madison, Eve Lindley, and Dot-Marie Jones. While at a club, Bobby’s friend Henry (Guy Branum) points out a “hot but boring” guy named Aaron (Luke Macfarlane). The two hit it off through some classic banter and exchange a kiss. Some time passes and they go on another date, which leads to them having sex; Aaron confides to Bobby that’s he has always wanted to be a chocolatier instead of his current job as a probate lawyer.
They go on a trip to Provincetown together to meet with the eccentric Lawrence Grape (Bowen Yang) to obtain funding for the museum. When Bobby flounders in his attempt, Aaron uses his skills to get Grape to make a donation. The two get even more close and vulnerable as their relationship grows; Bobby confides in Aaron about his struggle with being stifled due to his personality. When Aaron’s family arrives in New York for Christmas, Bobby arranges a tour of the city, not before Aaron asks Bobby to tone it down with his conversation. At dinner, Bobby becomes very outspoken, embarrassing Aaron, which causes the two to part again. Bobby feels insecure and ends up trying steroids, which leads to a hilarious and very awkward hookup with another gym patron. He further complicates his life when he angrily responds to his fellow board members when they confront him about the museum’s final exhibit that claims that Abraham Lincoln was gay.
This is the point in the film that stood out to me. Most romantic comedies that I’ve seen have the inevitable trope of the “third act breakdown.” A couple begins to fall for each other, then some reason that usually doesn’t make sense makes them break up. This moment happens in Bros, but it actually does make sense. Aaron and Bobby’s relationship was built on the idea that they could be themselves, even when others try to put them down or keep them from being who they want. Aaron betrayed that when he stifles Bobby at dinner. They had to break up in that moment because Aaron had become just the same as everyone else who didn’t like who Bobby was. It’s not often a romantic comedy can take an existing trope and actually use it to elevate the film, instead of drag it to an inevitable and boring ending.
Bros is downright hilarious. It has the raunchy, outlandish sense of humor you can find in any Apatow production, elevated by Eichner; he sells his lines so well in his own style, a staple of any comedy in the Apatow universe. You take a comedic talent (see: Amy Schumer, Seth Rogen, or Pete Davidson), and put them in a position to shine with a great supporting cast around them. In this film in particular, I’ll just say there’s a scene featuring Eichner and Debra Messing as herself that is so outrageous and might be my favorite part of the whole movie.
Another really great thing about the way this film is constructed is how it features so much actual LGBTQ+ history in the telling of the story, through the curation of the museum. Queer icons like Marsha Johnson, Alan Turing, Katharine Lee Bates, James Baldwin, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Harvey Milk are all featured in one way or another as exhibits. Bobby even speaks on a few of them. I think it’s brilliant that Bros, a historic film itself, takes the opportunity to give even more attention to the history of the LGBTQ movement.
I will be the first one to say that I’m not usually interested in romantic comedies. As I mentioned, there are only a few from the ‘80s that I truly love. But Bros is different. I already knew it would be funny; beyond that, it had a plausible, natural, realistic relationship at the center of the story. This the best kind of representation any community can get.
Bros gives us the nuance of a same-sex relationship that most people might not even care to consider. The LGBTQ+ community wants to see honest, grounded portrayals of themselves and their lives, and this film achieves that so perfectly. Eichner, Stoller, and the rest of the cast, entirely made up of LGBTQ+ actors, come together to create a new classic Apatow comedy that achieves so much for queer representation in film.
Rating: 10/10
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