Beware of gay sex! “Bros” explores rich white gay men at their absolute best, but is that enough representation to satisfy queer audiences? Nearly two decades ago, “Brokeback Mountain” (2005) made history as the first film focused chiefly on two men’s romance to be nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards. Two decades later, Billy Eichner’s directorial debut claims to make history too — as the first major studio rom-com that also focuses on the romantic relationship between two men. The problem here is not that “Bros” isn’t a great film — it is. The problem is that it could’ve been more groundbreaking. Regardless, the film is a hilarious and colorful take on the modern rom-com genre that deserves attention and has potential to become a queer modern classic.
Released in theaters on Sept. 30, “Bros” follows Bobby (Billy Eichner), a romantically calloused and emotionally-unavailable millennial podcaster. He dabbles in other queer professional affairs, like the grand opening of the first LGBTQ history museum in New York City. Bobby’s character embodies exactly what happens to a twink when they reach their 30s (straight people, type “perez hilton” into google images), but he’s doing it with class and humor, which makes him a likable lead. He meets Aaron (Luke Macfarlane), an equally emotionally-unavailable but ever-so-muscular golden boy at a club and the two immediately hit it off. The rest of the film follows their unconventional “love is not love” love story as the pair parade around the most bougie parts of New York City like the gay Terminator and, well … Billy Eichner.
“Bros” nails the humor of modern queer city life. Packing the film with pop culture references to the brim, Eichner knows how to stir a crowd, and even more deftly how to rile up a queer crowd. When Bobby refers to himself, frustrated with his current life circumstances, as “whatever happens to Evan Hansen after the musical,” my theater erupted into laughter. Even the more steamy scenes were packed with relatable gay humor, emphasizing the hopelessness of Grindr culture and the too-often strange dynamics of gay situationships.
Not only are the sex scenes humorous, they are also powerful. Eichner refuses to cater to heteronormative expectations by insisting he be allowed to get as sexy as straight people can in their movies. With a number of sexual scenes you need two hands to count, the film is given a heavy R rating. This choice is bold and unusual, particularly since the film industry has a historical habit of catering to its straight audiences. However Eichner doesn’t want to compromise the relatable portrayal by removing the sexual experience from the narrative, something I appreciated and found surprisingly refreshing.
Another area where the film pushes boundaries is in its cast. The film’s cast is almost entirely queer, which is another daring move from Eichner. One of the only straight people we meet are Macfarlane’s hockey teammate from high school, Josh (Ryan Faucett) and his girlfriend. The aforementioned “straight” Josh breaks up with his girlfriend, comes out publicly and gets sexually involved with Aaron all in the film’s 115 minute runtime. The only other relevant straight people in the film are Bobby’s friend, Tina (Monica Raymund), her husband and two children, who collectively do a “bottom dance” in the family’s living room. Not to mention the fact that the film makes a point of actually casting gay actors and actresses to play gay characters. So yeah, no complaints there.
However, “Bros” has its fair share of weaknesses. While I personally enjoyed every minute of the almost two hour runtime, the film clearly needed more time in the editing room. At times, the plot was interrupted by unnecessary scenes that felt clunky and slightly disorienting to the development of the narrative. In between more provocative scenes, for example, Eichner chose to include comedic bits like a group dinner scene with laughable dialogue but no necessary plot development.
Another place where “Bros” leaves its audience wanting is in the likability of its two main characters. At one point in the film, when Bobby meets Aaron’s family, Aaron asks him to “tone it down,” and any gay man knows exactly what that means: to act a little less gay. He realizes his mistake, but never quite makes up for the magnitude of his error. In addition, after a big fight between the pair, Aaron violates Bobby’s trust by making out with none other than his old hockey teammate behind a gay bar. Again, Aaron’s charm and grand gestures are redeeming, but not fully able to excuse his mistreatment of Bobby.
But it’s not just Aaron who’s flawed. Throughout most of the film, Bobby is just kind of annoying. It’s not that he’s too gay, or too loud or even too much; it’s that he’s too cynically self-absorbed to empathize with the people around him sometimes, and it can rub a viewer the wrong way. Maybe these flaws make the characters more three-dimensional and real, but it just left me feeling less connected to their love story by the end of the film. Worth mentioning, though, is Eichner’s performance. While most of the supporting cast are just gay people playing, well, gay people, Eichner takes on a lot of weight as the film’s star and delivers. His performance in emotional scenes is authentically painful and real, but his delivery of dry, intelligent humor is hysterical and has a special kind of bite.
Lastly, “Bros” struggles to live up to its claims of grandeur. The film was marketed as a groundbreaking piece that pioneers the mainstream queer film movement, but it just doesn’t quite rise to the challenge. While the cast is by all means diverse, the love story isn’t. It’s time for a mainstream love story depicting queer people of color; queer people with varying body types; queer people with different incomes; and maybe even queer people that live in less populated areas. Where “Bros” thinks it’s a 9.0 on the Richter scale, it is merely an aftershock of the trailblazing queer films of the last few decades that have paved the way for the creation of a film like it.
While the film was in some ways disappointing, even more disappointing is its performance in the box office. The film spent $22 million on production and around $30 million on promotion, but fell flat in the box office, producing only around $5 million in revenue on opening weekend. Seemingly not quite queer enough for queer people and too queer for straight and cisgendered people, the film hasn’t done as well as it could’ve. The blame shouldn’t rest on the film, but rather America’s still-persisting homophobia that rests outside of major cities. Nevertheless, it is an unfortunate situation for queer representation in mainstream film, as a capitalist dominated industry might not take another chance on a queer love story for a while — but perhaps we’ve never been mainstream anyway, and perhaps that’s perfectly fine.
“Bros” is nevertheless a genuine, heartfelt film with enough laughter-inducing gems to make it worth watching. If you care about queer people and queer media, go watch it in theaters before it disappears! Especially if you’re straight. I guarantee you’ll have a good time.
