Director
Nicholas Stoller
(FORGETTING SARAH MARSHALL, BAD NEIGHBOURS)

Starring
Billy Eichner and Luke Macfarlane

Good rom-com’s these days are few and far between, especially ones with a prominent studio backing and a big screen release. This year there have only been a few, none of which have really lived up to the giants of the genre that were a mainstay of 90’s cinema. Something that has never happened before though is a big studio rom-com, written by a gay man, starring two gay men, with a cast comprised entirely of LGBTQI+ actors (barring a few celebrity cameos as themselves)…that was until now. Not only does Billy Eichner’s new film Bros break down all of those barriers, it’s also genuinely good, making it very much the unicorn of modern cinema.  

Teaming up with Writer/Director Nicholas Stoller (the token heterosexual in this equation) who has experience in the genre with previous features such as Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Eichner and Stoller have been able to create a uniquely queer take on a typical trope. Bros is about the intelligent, quirky, and a little bit awkward Bobby (Eichner) who hosts a queer history podcast whilst working on the creation of the first LGBTQI+ museum in New York City. He is a proudly long time single gay man getting by on a string of random Grindr hookups, often with hilarious and unsatisfying outcomes. At a standard night out at a gay nightclub, he encounters Aaron (Luke Macfarlane), the ripped, handsome jock that wouldn’t look out of place dancing in a Speedo on a Mardi Gras float. Aaron, like Bobby is not looking for a long term relationship and has typically been more comfortable hooking up with other hunky jocks and their husbands. But when Bobby and Aaron meet, there is something in each of them that they find intriguing, despite not being each other’s usual type.  

The story may be cliché in a lot of ways, and there are a number of very deliberate, tongue in cheek nods to many overused rom-com devices, but it very much has its own queer flair. What’s brilliant about Bros is that it hasn’t just taken a straight storyline and thrown two men into it. You couldn’t take one of the leads out, replace them with a woman and still have the story work. This is very much a GAY love story, and it’s brilliant. Watching this film at the Melbourne premiere, it’s fair to say that a large portion of the audience were members of the LGBTQI+ community (myself included), and that was evidenced by the many laughs of affirmation at different situations the leads found themselves in. They were relatable, either through own experiences or those of our friends. If you compare Bros to its lesbian counterpart The Happiest Season, which had Kristen Stewart opposite a straight actress, with no defining queer features in the movie aside from the fact that the characters were in a relationship, Bros is so much more triumphant in creating an authentic story. Not only is the story genuine, but the use of an entirely queer cast playing both gay and straight roles is a masterstroke and a huge leap for casting diversity. Too often gay actors have been pigeonholed into queer only roles once they come out in Hollywood, but Bros further proves that this needn’t be the case.

My biggest fear for this film is that straight audiences won’t go and see it, but I sincerely hope that isn’t the case. The same way in which I fell in love with Joe (Tom Hanks) in You’ve Got Mail, despite my clear preference for Meg Ryan, I think all audiences will fall in love with Bobby and Aaron, despite their sexual preferences. This isn’t a gay movie for gays, it’s a gay movie for every person out there who loves nothing more than a good old fashioned rom-com (with a modern twist) that’s going to make them laugh and ultimately leave the cinema feeling a little happier than when they went in.

Bros is in cinemas October 27th