Representation matters in movies, especially for people who rarely see their own stories on screen.
While the LGBTQ+ community has definitely seen an uptick over the past few years in films with gay and trans characters, those characters are often played by straight actors in heart-wrenching dramas.
That’s what makes “Bros” such a milestone of a movie, in that it is the first major-studio romantic comedy featuring two gay men and main cast comprised entirely of LGBTQ+ actors.
“Bros” is produced by big-wig comedy producer Judd Apatow with a script by the movie’s star Billy Eichner, a comedian best known for his guerrilla comedy shorts “Billy on the Street” which features Eichner running around the streets of New York City with a microphone yelling at people (trust me, it’s significantly more funny than it sounds).
Eichner plays Bobby, a middle-aged workaholic living in New York who makes time for friendships and random, online hookups, but has no interest in long-term relationships.
That is until he meets the hunky Aaron, played by Luke Macfarlane (who has carved out a nice career for himself starring in Hallmark Christmas movies with titles like “Christmas in My Heart,” “A Shoe Addict’s Christmas” and, my personal favorite, “Sense, Sensibility & Snowmen”).
Aaron and Bobby are total opposites on the surface, with Aaron being laid back and into cross-fit, ice hockey and country music while Bobby is tightly-wound with all of his attention going to the construction of a new LGBTQ+ history museum.
What they have in common is a fear of commitment and a sense of loneliness and isolation in spite of their bustling social lives.
While “Bros” is trailblazing in its big-screen depictions of same-sex romance and relationships, it dutifully follows the will-they-or-won’t-they romantic comedy formula.
“Bros” is a very funny movie and while, as a straight, white male, I couldn’t relate to everything I saw up on the screen, quite frankly my demographic has been catered to more than enough.
It’s a big, beautiful world out there and the more people who are given the platform to tell their own stories, the better off we’ll all be.
“Bros” is rated R for strong sexual content, language throughout and some drug use.
