Bros is fun! Bros is cute! Why are people not going out to see Bros? The movie, which our Chelsea Steiner gave 5/5 stars, stars Billy Eichner as Bobby, a perpetually single gay man who believes that love just isn’t for him, and yet, when he meets Aaron (Luke Macfarlane), he’s challenged about his preconceived notions of what love and romance can be.
So you know, a romcom. This is the romantic comedy renaissance, isn’t it? For those of us old enough to remember when romcoms dominated the cinemas, Bros is is a refreshing return to the genre and historic in its focus on a same-sex couple at the heart of it. And so it is disappointing that the movie isn’t making historic numbers at the box office with its first weekend.
There is probably some regular reasoning to it, like the fact that it is a romantic comedy coming out against Halloween movies during the first weekend of October, but then there are also those who are gross and homophobic who are going to be loud about something like this despite the fact that it is a sweet love story. And it has been review bombed by those who have nothing better to do online than be assholes.
And so, star and co-writer Eichner took to Twitter to share his experience watching Bros with an audience while also calling out those who didn’t go to see Bros and pushed to get people to go and see it and support his work that he clearly loves.
While there are reasons that people didn’t go see Bros opening weekend that are not homophobic, it is sad that this movie isn’t doing so well despite the rave reviews, and as someone who saw it, I think that people are really missing out!
Like romcoms as a genre? You’ll love Bros!
The thing about Bros is that it falls into all the trappings of a typical romcom, and it works because it isn’t the same setup we’ve seen time and time again. It’s not a man who is a mess and a woman who has her group of friends telling her that her biological clock is clicking. It’s giving the spotlight to two men who both think they don’t want love and showing them how they’re wrong and perfect for each other, and it just really works.
It has all the beats and the makings of the great romcoms we all watch over and over again every Valentine’s Day, and that’s thanks to Eichner’s own love of the genre. It’s clear in how Bobby reacts to things and calls things out that Eichner once again put a lot of himself into this character. (I have to wonder if every time Bobby says that something is a true story, it is Billy Eichner’s way of telling us that what he’s saying is true for him, as well.) It’s just genuinely a fun watch.
Bros feels like a welcome return to the genre and one that I was happy to see in theaters. And you should, too.
(featured image: Universal Pictures)
