It will be very interesting to see if there is an audience for Nicolas Stoller’s “Bros” this coming weekend. You know the drill: critics will definitely be pushing it …
Is it even a good movie? Well, it’s the same Judd Apatow blueprint we’ve seen before, except done through the lens of LGBTQ characters. That, in itself, makes it a landmark moment. I’m glad it exists.
Again, is it even a good movie? Well, it IS the first mainstream Hollywood studio romantic comedy to feature gay men as the lead characters. It does feature fairly explicit gay sex. One can definitely semi-embrace “Bros” for its representational significance.
Okay, BUT IS IT A GOOD MOVIE???
Directed by Nicholas Stoller, and produced by Judd Apatow, whose DNA is all over this comedy, “Bros” has every studio-backed rom-com cliche you can think of, hell, it even includes clips of “You’ve Got Mail.
At the end of the day, this is very much a sappy love story that could have easily belonged in a ‘90s rom-com. It’s a very conventional thing this “Bros,” a movie that offers the usual awkward dates and commitment issues, but via a queer point of view. Many of the characters in it don’t feel fully fleshed out, but rather cartoonish and devoid of substance. It ultimately gives off a stink of phoniness.
It’s not a good movie.