Bobby (Billy Eichner) is a podcast host who is also working to open the first history museum dedicated to the LGBT community in his native New York. While he prides himself on being single and free, he meets Aaron (Luke MacFarlane), a lawyer who is more masculine than the people Bobby has been with before. While trying to make sense of their relationship, they hit several speed bumps as Bobby tries to open the museum and Aaron navigates his complicated past...
If you're a student of rom-coms and know Nora Ephron from Nancy Meyers, there's a good chance you'll be able to clock any number of references in 'Bros' from a mile off. In fact, 'Bros' is effectively working off the blueprint of 'When Harry Met Sally'. There's just more gay orgies and poppers worked into the mixture here, with less autumnal walks and conversations over sandwiches. Everything else, however, is played relatively straight. It even concludes with a run to the airport/LGBT museum and a big smooch with people applauding.
In the year of Our Lord 2022, none of this should be as surprising. As the movie consistently reminds its audience, the LGBT community has been around since the dawn of time, but it's only now that society has caught up with them. That being said, taking the rom-com blueprint and superimposing it with homosexuality seems a little safe. Some of the funniest moments in 'Bros' are when it's being gleefully satirical and bitingly funny. Kristen Chenoweth, for example, turns up at an awards ceremony with a hat that has an animatronic Stonewall on it. The LGBT museum where Billy Eichner's character works has a "gay trauma" room that features pictures of Ronald and Nancy Reagan blasted across the wall.
For much of the movie, it's a will-they-won't-they-of-course-they-will between Billy Eichner's character and Luke Macfarlane's character. Both of them are playing to their strengths - Eichner is a witty, fast-talking, intense New Yorker, while Macfarlane channels his work as a Hallmark Channel romantic lead. They're both alike in their lack of intimacy or connection, but again, like most rom-coms, it's about one person not wanting to be vulnerable and get their heart broken, and the other person not realising they're in love until it's too late. The supporting cast doesn't get much of a look-in, beyond a couple of setpieces here and there, but the chemistry between Macfarlane and Eichner makes up for it.
Even behind the camera, 'Bros' is rigidly in line with romantic comedies. Director Nicholas Stoller is an old hand at rom-coms, having previously helmed 'Forgetting Sarah Marshall', 'Neighbors', 'The Five-Year Engagement', and written the likes of 'Muppets Most Wanted' and, er, 'Sex Tape' with Cameron Diaz and Jason Segel. Marc Shaiman is the music composer, who did the music for 'When Harry Met Sally', 'The First Wives Club' and 'In & Out', not to mention writing the music for John Waters' musical 'Hairspray'. Even the setting itself is peak romantic comedy - New York, at night, during the winter months.
With all that in mind, 'Bros' then can feel a little bit too predictable and broad for its own good, as it's essentially repackaging decades of movies with a gay perspective on it. Still, if you're looking for a fun, sweet romantic comedy made with reverence for the genre and a different take on it, this is worth your time.
