A lot has and will be said about the historic nature of Bros. Not enough has been said about how good it is.
You've probably read several headlines about the film Bros, co-written by its star Billy Eichner.
It's being touted as the first film by a major studio to feature an entirely LGBTTQIA+ principal cast, as well as the first studio romantic comedy centred around a same-sex couple.
This is worth celebrating, even though it's taken far too long to get to this point. But Bros shouldn't be compartmentalised as just a historic film.
The film pulls no punches, being an R-rated comedy that is unapologetically gay. It makes a point of highlighting that gay and straight relationships are different, but still follows the very broad strokes of a romantic comedy, allowing it to stand the test of time against some of the greats.
The film is produced by Judd Apatow (Knocked Up, The 40-Year-Old Virgin) which means in addition to being funny, it's about 10-15 minutes longer than it needs to be. Zing! Burn on Apatow.
Now if you're looking for an out, I'm not going to "both sides" the issue of homophobia. If the idea of a gay romantic comedy makes you uncomfortable simply because it revolves around two men, then don't go see it, don't read my reviews and go outside.
If you just think it doesn't look very funny, that's fine, comedy is subjective.
I, however, found Bros to be hilarious. It's no fun to just spoil a bunch of the jokes in a review, but it's a very rewarding watch for pop culture-savvy audiences.
Billy Eichner's comedy is not for everyone, his over-the-top persona is dialled back from what you may have seen on Billy on the Street or his character in Parks & Recreation. Bros provides a more palatable, mainstream version of the same flavour of comedy.
The film isn't entirely autobiographical, but there's clearly a lot pulled from Billy Eichner's life. The funniest and the most powerful scenes are obviously the most personal for Eichner, talking about being forced to hide his personality or being told he's unmarketable.
Which is why it's such a shame to see the film do poorly at the box office. Eichner made some controversial comments blaming this on straight people. While I see where he's coming from, the truth is that in the age of streaming, we don't get a lot of comedies on the big screen when they're so easy to not have to leave the house for.
Bros is worth the trip to the cinema though, it's funny, it's heartfelt, everything you could want in a romantic comedy.
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