TIFF22 Review: I’m Glad a Gay Rom-Com Like ‘Bros’ Exists, But It’s Not as Funny or Romantic as Expected

Bros

Nicholas Stoller (director and writer), Billy Eichner (writer), Brandon Trost (cinematography), Daniel Gabbe (editor)
Billy Eichner, Luke Macfarlane (cast)

Image credit: Courtesy of TIFF

Bros, which premiered at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival, is about two commitment-phobes who decide to commit to each other. Will it work out? 

Billy Eichner plays Bobby, a cynical, angry 40-year-old gay man who is passionate about sharing gay history. He’s heading the first LGBTQ+ history museum in New York, but getting it off the ground is proving to be challenging. 

Bobby’s love life is non-existent and his hook-ups are unmemorable or unsatisfactory. And then one day he meets Aaron in a club. Aaron (Luke MacFarlane) is the quintessential hot guy—emotionally unavailable, kinda dumb, and only interested in hooking up with equally hot guys. But Aaron and Bobby intrigue each other and start spending more time together. Unfortunately, they have such different temperaments and interests, that there’s no way this could work out. 

The part that I loved most about Bros was the queer history aspect and what we’ve lost by the erasure of these stories. When the film leans into sharing these stories, I was engaged and hooked. 

The central love story, on the other hand, was underwhelming and the main reason is that Bobby is so annoying. Yes, he has a right to be angry and cynical about the world, but guess what, so do a lot of other people, especially trans characters, non-binary characters, and the one fat character who appears as set dressing. Bobby’s pain and struggles aren’t singular—he’s just really good at vocalizing and wallowing in them. This isn’t to say we can’t have stories about cis white gay men and their struggles, but Bobby is affluent and successful and we have seen these stories before. I mean, Uncoupled came out this year and Bobby reminded me a lot of the protagonist of that show. Centering obnoxious white male characters is so tedious, please can we move on from them already? 

Luke MacFarlane is somewhat adorable—I loved his character and performance in Single All the Way, and he is very believable as a sweet, slightly intimidated character. When he has to be a douchebag though, MacFarlane is completely out of his depth. He just can’t pull it off and it’s not for lack of trying. 

I am so tired of fat characters being included only to make something look body-positive but exactly nothing happens with that character. Here Henry (Guy Branum) is the friend who appears in two and a half scenes and that’s it. Why can’t fat characters be bold and get some action? 

Image credit: Courtesy of TIFF

There’s a speech near the end of the film that was really moving till they added something about ‘us’ being lucky. Are we? Is the queer community, especially in the US, actually lucky? Trans rights are being stripped away and trans people of all ages are being attacked and killed for no reason. Gay folks and their rights are under threat and gay people of colour still struggle to be accepted within the community. Yes, times have changed and more queer people can tell their stories but saying the community is lucky is completely missing the struggles of vast swathes of the community living in America, and across the world, right now. 

This film is very obviously missing some integral knowledge about the trans community. Martina Navratilova is name-dropped in the first few minutes—could the writers not have found another queer sports figure who isn’t a transphobe? Let’s not start with the mention of The Hangover, when that trilogy also has a transphobic plot point. And there’s a Harry Potter reference, so let’s just go all in with the transphobic reminders in this film. Look, everyone has blind spots which is why sensitivity readers exist—get their expertise on your work especially if you’re making a film that’s supposed to be a celebration and a tribute to all the unsung queer heroes and legends of the past. 

There’s a moment of reconciliation late in the film that felt contrived and inauthentic. I felt it let the main character off the hook way too easily, which is expected since, you know, he’s the main character, but again, so tiresome. 

Romance stories aren’t my forte, but I’m glad that queer love stories with happy, silly endings are becoming the norm. But the stories still need to be executed well. Look at Fire Island, which came out earlier this year—it was so funny and heart-warming with performances that drew you in and kept you coming back for more. Bros tries too hard, and well, it’s not nearly as funny as it should or wants to be. And, I'm sorry, but name-drops and celebrity cameos just come across as vain, not impressive. There’s also zero romantic chemistry between the leads, and that really makes or breaks a romantic film; it broke it in Bros.

The film also comes across as preachy at times, which again, I understand you need to sometimes hammer the information over bigoted people’s heads, but is that your audience? Aren’t the filmmakers, quite literally, preaching to the converted here? 

Bros is a fun and feel-good film; it also stars characters who are still finding their way while they’re in their forties. The film provides glimpses of America’s queer history, but the writing and direction are uneven. The main characters aren’t all that interesting either and it’s never able to find its groove. But at least we have a major gay rom-com getting a theatrical release, which is some sort of progress at least.