Our identity is the most important thing to any of us, who wants a world of clones? It’s important that we don’t take ourselves too seriously, though. I’m a straight white man, I understand attention to all other genders and sexualities isn’t an attack or some plot to alienate and villainise mine. We’re all people, we’re all humans, we can relax and laugh at ourselves. It’s hard for everyone, we drag our butts out of bed every day for a chance that life turns out differently, that we might run into the love of our life and that they’ll love the messes we are.
‘Bros’ is a romantic comedy directed by Nicholas Stoller, starring and co-written with Stoller by Billy Eichner, one of the finest comic actors of our time. Eichner is most famous for his show, ‘Billy On The Street’ where he would drag celebrities around New York City while he screams trivia questions in pedestrians’ faces. ‘Bros’ might be a gay rom-com but it spreads all the laughs around, we’re laughing at straight people, we’re laughing at gay people, we’re laughing at the ridiculousness and hypocrisy of it all. The film doesn’t take itself seriously, it’s two of the most fun hours you’ll have with a film.
Bobby is a LGBTQ+ justice warrior with a podcast who prides himself on being an emotionally unavailable cis white gay man with a message to spread. His latest project is becoming the curator for the national museum of LGBTQ+ history, over which he argues with the rest of his cohorts what the last presentation should be. At a dating app launch party, he meets Aaron, an almost complete opposite, whereas Bobby is passionate and intense, Aaron is casual and open. As they find themselves drawn to each other, they must find a way to balance each other out if they want to stay together.
Billy Eichner plays Bobby, a character that’s easy to compare to his stage persona or his character from ‘Parks And Rec’, but even if it’s too easy, it’s still hilarious. It’s hilarious to watch Billy awkwardly try to argue that gay history should be taught to second graders and yell as he tries to escape a vogueing nightclub. It’s hilarious to see Billy panic at the mere sight of a bee and get irrationally angry when Aaron looks at other men. It might be an easy character for Eichner, but it’s only because he’s mastered it. Luke Macfarlane plays Aaron who, ironically, is an amazing straight-man character, playing to Bobby’s insecurities and even shedding a few layers of his own as well. The chemistry could be seen by Stevie Wonder, both play each other like Julia Roberts and Richard Gere or Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan. I almost wish it was a TV series, just for another hour or so, there’s simply so much more potential.
Mason’s Top 3 Reasons To Watch ‘Bros’
- Jokes at both the LGBTQ+ community and straight people, there’s something for us all to crack up at
- Possibly Billy Eichner’s best, most chaotic comedic role to date, never has toxicity been so side-splitting
- So many quotable lines that I’ll personally be torturing friends and co-workers with
Mason Horsley is a graduate of UOW with a Bachelor’s degree in Creative Arts, majoring in Creative Writing and minoring in Theatre. He hopes to write and direct a feature film and has been working on screenplays since he was 17. He writes film reviews for the Tertangala and works on his latest project ‘The Last Film’ while working a full-time job at a fish market. Mason despises reviewing films he dislikes and because of this, every review he writes acts as a recommendation.
Image Credit: IMDb