By David T. Valentin
Bros is a simple gay romcom with a simple plot: a dorky dude, Bobby (played by Billy Eichner), finds himself insisting he’s better single, focusing on the passions of his life like his podcast, his writing and his involvement with putting together the plot’s first national LGBTQ+ museum when all of a sudden he finds himself oddly fascinated by Aaron Shepard (played by Luke Mcfarlene) at a club. After the two get off to a rocky start, both with their guards up, the two leads of the movie start falling for each other while wrestling with their own inner problems.
The film is a mix of everything—gay comedy, poking a little fun at straight relationships and a tad bit educational. I found Bobby to be a relatable character as he prides himself being one of the smart gays—self-aware with his walls up all in an act to protect himself from both failure and getting hurt. And while he protects himself and uses his work to get through life, he is quite lonely and yearning for something more than a hook up. His eagerness to educate on all things LGBTQ+ history makes him overwhelming to some, but when he really focuses and becomes a team player, he finds that those who respect and love him cannot get enough of him, thus sending a stern message to LGBTQ+ viewers to never, ever be less of yourself just to fit in or impress a man.
Aaron, Luke Mcfarlene’s character, was also a bit of fresh air. Although most of the movie was still dork and jock fall in love, the film didn’t lean heavily into the whole “jock is traumatized because his family is overtly traditional and conservative” that often plagues these kinds of narratives. If anything, the film represented Aaron’s family as incredibly loving and supportive, but simply just uneducated at Queer history so much so that his mother, a teacher, insists there are somethings children are just too young to learn and know. Same goes for Aaron. While yes, much of his inner conflict is due to internalized homophobia, a lot of that stems from being uneducated and him not choosing a less unconventional life for himself. It’s not that he hates himself for being gay, but more so is annoyed and upset that he wasn’t exposed to the same Queer teachings as a child like Bobby was. Oddly, I really wanted to learn more about Aaron by the end of the film and wished they had used more of the film toward his POV instead of Bobby’s. But perhaps there might be a spin-off in the works?
Overall, every character was humorous in there own way, relatable and quirky enough to be unique and needed within the plot. The pacing as well as the tone was perfect for what they wanted to achieve and I’m hoping Bros will become perhaps not as a Queer classic, but definitely a film that’s easily rewatchable.
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