Bros

Nicholas Stoller and Billy Eichner's new film is the exact kind of romantic comedy the world needs right now.

When gay marriage was legalized on a national level back in 2015, social media was aflutter with the term “Love Is Love” and “Love Wins.” While some said these statements with good intentions, Bobby Lieber, the central character in Universal’s LGBTQ+ romantic comedy “Bros,” wants to know what the hell those phrases even mean as he laments that gay relationships and straight relationships aren’t the same.

This becomes one of the big core ideas of “Bros,” which is not only a monumental movie for queer representation on a studio level (the film boasts an entirely LGBTQ+ cast, even in the straight roles), but one of the smartest, raunchiest, sweetest, snarkiest, and all around best romantic comedies we’ve gotten in years.

“Bros” follows Bobby Lieber (Billy Eichner) a successful podcast host and struggling writer who lives a life free of the commitments of a relationship. He’s never had a real boyfriend, instead Bobby spends his free time perusing GRINDR and having awkward hook-ups with other men. He is also helping found the very first LGBTQ+ History Museum in the heart of New York City, but funding has come to a stand still, and the opening is continuously being delayed because of disagreements amongst the board members.

While attending a launch party for the new gay dating app Zellweger (it’s an app designed for gay men to meet up and talk about their favorite actresses), Bobby meets the jocky, confident, and uber-charismatic Aaron (Luke Macfarlane) and while the two couldn’t be more different, they both share the same mindset of not wanting to be in a committed relationship, and thus starts an unlikely romance between the two, full of laughs, sex, heartbreak, and maybe, just maybe, leading them to find true love for the first time in their lives.

In terms of that classic romantic comedy formula, “Bros” doesn’t really shake things up too much, but what pushes this film so far ahead of other films in this genre is the script written by Nicholas Stoller and Billy Eichner. Nothing is perceived as black and white, and the film uses the differences between Bobby and Aaron to illustrate just how different each queer person’s experience can be. Aaron likes working out, he loves movies like “The Hangover” (which confuses Bobby), he was a hockey star in high school, he’s truly an All-American man. Bobby on the other hand, had a much more liberal upbringing, while his parents were extremely accepting of his sexuality, you can sense that his relationship with them was a bit more distant than Aaron’s relationship with his family.

Eichner has been working in Hollywood for quite some time, having got his start on the hilarious offbeat comedy game show “Billy on the Street” before scoring roles in high-profile films and shows like “Parks & Recreation” and Disney’s “The Lion King” remake among others. In “Bros” Eichner finally gets his shot at being a leading man, and he shines every moment that he’s on screen.

The film allows Eichner to really show his range as an actor, not just his impeccable comedic delivery but also his more dramatic chops as well. Eichner isn’t afraid to show Bobby’s faults, but because of his performance we never stop feeling for the character.

While many already knew Eichner’s name before “Bros,” that means that Luke Macfarlane may just the film’s true breakout star as Aaron. Macfarlane has a natural charisma that he carries with him. His comedic chops and chemistry with Eichner are excellent and beneath the muscles, Macfarlane is able to show the vulnerabilities of Aaron just as well as Eichner can with Bobby’s.

The chemistry between the two men is electric. Their back and forth works in all the right places, in the more emotional moments and the laugh-out-loud ones. You just can’t help but root for them and their dynamic is one of the film’s greatest achievements amongst a whole lot of others.

Like many other productions from Judd Apatow, “Bros” does run a little bit too long, especially for a story as predictable as this one, but thankfully the joy never ceases. There’s a scene in “Bros” where Bobby and Aaron discuss how the only queer stories Hollywood pumps out are the ones that typically end in tragedy, and those are the ones that awards shows like to shower in gold.

“Bros” feels like the perfect antidote. For too long the queer films that broke through to the mainstream are ones that are shrouded in sadness and almost always feature straight actors, to a point where a film like “Bros” feels like a total breath of fresh air and should hopefully open the door for more films like this.