A Look On The Lighter Side: Spending an evening with ‘Bros’

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A Look On The Lighter Side: Spending an evening with ‘Bros’

Maybe it’s me. I hope that it’s me. Because otherwise, it’s them — by which I mean, the cast and writers and other creators of the movie “Bros.”

“Bros” isn’t a bad movie. For all I know, it’s a great one. I just didn’t like it.

It’s supposed to be this great, ground-breaking, big-budget Hollywood rom-com (short for romantic comedy) with big talent involved, only instead of being between a man and a woman, it’s between a man and a man. But — as actor Billy Eichner points out — a rom-com between two men will be a little different.

For one thing, the “meet cute” will happen at an orgy-dance party, with a minimum of clothes.

For another, there will be a lot of mindless sex. I almost wrote “meaningless,” but maybe that’s imposing my own values on these guys. Maybe mindless sex IS the meaning of life for them — what do I know? It was filmed pretty tastefully, I’ll give them that — but still, I found out way more than I wanted to know about men who, as the Health Department would put it, “are having sex with other men.”

There was more than one scene where the young twenty-something who accompanied my friend and me to the film was seriously embarrassed and didn’t know where to look. I didn’t either. I was glad we were all in a very dark theater.

When we meet Eichner’s character, “Bobby,” he has given up on ever finding love and is concentrating on trying to finish fund-raising for the first-ever LGBTQ+ museum, which he heads. This device allows a table-full of activists — one for each of those letters, including the “plus” — to bicker about what the museum must and must not include. Listening to them squabble was actually the funniest part of the movie, for me.

But watching Bobby give in to the demands of a total stranger on a dating app, who “must see ass pics,” and so tried shaving his own butt before realizing he didn’t even know how he’d contort to take such a selfie — that wasn’t funny. I just wanted to say, “Honey, don’t waste your time on such a, um, dick!”

But apparently being a dick — indeed, a dick-about-town — is what gay life is all about. At least, that’s according to Billy Eichner, who isn’t just the star of this film — he co-wrote it. Even when Bobby finds a great guy, one who might like him too, their biggest argument is — spoiler alert— all about physicality, and what body type the other “goes for.”

Even a gender-reveal party isn’t just a party, it’s an orgy.

And when a gay couple of Bobby’s acquaintance (both men) announce “We’re expecting triplets!” I felt some definite pain. Where was this triply-pregnant woman? Nowhere in sight. No mention of her or her health. Do they even know who she is or did they simply order these triplets from Amazon? Is that all we women are to these men —just wombs with legs? That feels no different from how the LEAST liberated people in America view us.

But my biggest problem with this film was that I just didn’t believe it. The love interest — Luke Macfarlane as “Aaron” — is undeniably handsome, with an irresistible twinkle in his eye. But he plays the dumb hunk so believably that I could not believe he made his living as a lawyer.

And I just did not believe any of the scenes the two men had together. I kept thinking, well, yes, they have to kiss, it’s in the script. When I found out that Macfarlane had been the male lead in any number of (straight) Hallmark movies, I realized I would have found him much more believable in those… even though he’s been “out” and gay for years. Maybe there really wasn’t any chemistry or maybe I’m hopelessly biased — I couldn’t tell you which.

There are musical montages and running sequences, just like any other rom-com. And there’s a happy ending — sort of. My only problem is that by the time that arrived, I didn’t care.

This film was produced by Judd Apatow, who also produced “Knocked Up,” “Trainwreck,” and “The 40-Year-Old Virgin.”

I’m sorry, Judd, Billy, et al — I know I’m supposed to like this movie so that more gay story-line films will get made. But the heart wants what the heart wants… and my heart finds this movie a big “Meh.”

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