BROS
While the romantic comedy has reached a new level of proliferation in recent years, the genre has largely been relegated to streaming, making each new release feel like less of an event than ever. Without naming names (and there have been a few stellar exceptions!), the stakes are usually lower, the set pieces smaller, and the jokes staler than ever. That’s why it brings me great pleasure to recommend BROS, the R-rated romantic-comedy you’ve been waiting for (opening on a whopping 3300+ screens nationwide this weekend).
Co-written by and starring the hysterical Billy Eichner (DIFFICULT PEOPLE and of course, BILLY ON THE STREET), BROS (trailer here) follows Bobby (Eichner), a high-strung podcaster who’s grown comfortable with his single life—until he meets Aaron (the effortlessly charming Luke Macfarlane), a handsome “masc” lawyer who challenges Bobby’s philosophy toward commitment and romance. Between Eichner and Macfarlane’s instant chemistry, Brandon Trost’s glossy cinematography and the ineffable magic of an NYC location shoot, BROS captures the charm of so many of my favorite classic rom-coms while delivering on the laughs. Quite literally, several scenes left the audience at my screening roaring so loudly that I missed a few lines here and there. It’s a film that’s tailored to be experienced on the big screen with a crowd on a Friday night, and I can pretty much guarantee you’ll walk out smiling. It’s also refreshing to see a film represent the nuances of gay dating without feeling so tightly bound to making those elements more palatable to a heteronormative audience; beyond the raunchy jokes surrounding gay hook-up culture, director Nicholas Stoller pulls you into Bobby and Aaron's relationship by capturing the gray areas and contradictions of their feelings about committing to each other—something he’s done successfully before in THE FIVE-YEAR ENGAGEMENT and FORGETTING SARAH MARSHALL. If that’s not reason enough to head to the theater, consider it your moral obligation to buy a ticket and support gay people at the box office. Thanks!!
—Neal Mulani, Development Assistant
