Bros

Bobby is a neurotic podcast host who's happy to continue to go on Tinder dates, content not to get into anything too serious. That all changes when he meets Aaron, an equally detached lawyer who also likes to play the field. Repeatedly drawn to each other, both men begin to find themselves in unfamiliar territory as their situationship begins to resemble something more like a relationship.

Bros is the story of a man… smart, funny, interesting, successful, but… terminally single. He’s just another lonely soul in the big city, trying to juggle his big city dreams, with the responsibilities of his big city job, all while navigating the ups and downs of big city dating, and not always successfully. The truth is, he just doesn’t have time for love, and frankly, he doesn’t need it. Or does he? A chance encounter in the club with an attractive shirtless dude just may change his mind… And honestly, it’s one of the better rom-com I’ve seen recently. It’s definitely better than most of the ones out there right now. There’s a lot of reasons why, but mainly it’s because, not only does Bros do the classic rom-coms things that rom-coms are supposed to do, but it actually has a complete (well, complete-ish) story while doing it.

This is something you find less and less of these days, not just with most recent rom-coms, but most big studio comedies too, especially the ones that feature well known comedians, probably while doing some weird job, most likely while they have some kind of weird hairdo.

So many of these types of movies now seem to have a “build it in post” approach to them, a “we’ll just take a handful of possibly funny spaghetti and throw it against the wall in the hope that enough of it sticks so that we can make a whole pot” style that at least isn’t blatantly apparent while watching Bros. As a regular watcher of rom-coms and big studio comedies, let me assure you, the fact that Bros seems to have a finished script, maybe even before shooting started, is not just notable, it’s laudable.

Obviously, Bros is big on representation too, and not just for being the first studio-backed rom-com featuring gay men. Although, to be fair, centering two cis-gendered white men doesn’t seem as revolutionary as it once might have, BUT at least the film does acknowledge this, so there’s that… That aside, the film does also feature a widely diverse supporting cast, which is nice. Sure, some of them may be a bit cartoonish at times, but… baby steps for the big studios, I guess, right?

Anyway, charming, cute, funny, and obviously personal to writer/star Billy Eichner, with a large amount of gay history and culture thrown right in the mainstream’s face for good measure, Bros is totally worth your time, and it will definitely scratch that rom-com itch.