Bros Review

Bros is a rom-com with a twist because it’s the first LGBTQ+ rom-com released by a major studio.

Bobby Lieber (Billy Eichner) is a writer, journalist, and podcaster who accepts a position at the new National LBGTQ+ History Museum in New York. With this new position Bobby experiences a massive weight of expectation because of its importance to the LBGTQ+ community. Bobby is also a man who never had a proper relationship but that’s about to change when he meets the sexy beefcake Aaron Shepard (Luke Macfarlane).

Bros was produced by Apatow Productions, Judd Apatow’s production company. Apatow Productions had developed a reputation for making comedies with a more dramatic edge and Bros would fit that mould. Bros aimed to be a film about the history of the gay community and their experience then and now. This has made the film a target for people of a certain political perspective to call Bros a woke film and Hollywood virtue signalling.

The filmmakers didn’t shy away from the issues the LGBTQ+ commentary has been through. Bobby’s podcast was titled after the Stonewall Riots, and the museum struggled for funding and the exhibits emphasised the activists who fought for LBGTQ+ civil rights. One of the potential investors proposed a ‘Hall of Trauma’ for the museum, while a character played by Harvey Fierstein showed Bobby and Aaron pictures of his old friends and how many had died during the Aids Crisis.

One of the most powerful moments in the film was when Bobby told Aaron about all the discrimination he had suffered during his life. Bobby wanted to be a stage singer but his teacher said he was ‘too gay’ and could only get certain roles, and when he went into journalism school Bobby was told his interest in gay rights and gay history would only have a niche audience. While Bobby acknowledges that things have improved for the gay community, his experience drove him.

Having a positive message was all well and good, but Bros needed to be funny and luckily it was. The film had a thick and fast approach which worked. There was a load of humour throughout the film and even if a joke didn’t land (like the Taliban buying one of the museum’s sponsors), it didn’t last long. There were more hits than misses. My favourite jokes involved Debra Messing (AKA Grace from Will and Grace) who played a fictionalised version of herself.

The main issue was with Bobby himself. He was a character with a massive chip on his shoulder. People can sympathise with what he had been through, he was unbearable at times. I felt like Mr. Burns when he was with Lisa Simpson in The Simpsons episode “Fraudcast News” where the billionaire villain says ‘my god, are you always on?’ The other characters and Bobby acknowledges this and state this was one of his big faults, but I didn’t want to be around him for a prolonged period of time.

Aaron did counter Bobby’s abrasive attitude since he was so different. Aaron was a fitness fanatic who had a body most men would kill for, a jock who played hockey in high school, and from a small town in Upstate New York. He had more regular interests, like saying The Hangover was one of his favourite films and he liked Friends. Yet he also had issues.

Both men were insecure in their own ways. Neither Bobby nor Aaron have ever had a serious relationship and often engaged in casual sex, so a committed relationship was new to them. Bobby was insecure about his appearance since Aaron was such a hunk, whilst Aaron was miserable at work and wondered what he had achieved. A great moment in the film was when Aaron looked at an empty display case and imagined his only achievements were being a lawyer and doing Crossfit. He needed to take the plunge to do what he really wanted to in life.

Bros did everything it wanted to do. It was a mainstream film that was genuinely funny and able to be about the issues the LGBTQ+ community has experienced.