The film’s many small comic touches, almost asides, are just as important as the romance. There are quick cameo appearances, including one in which Kristin Chenoweth appears at a fundraiser wearing a revolving model of the Stonewall Inn on her head. Bobby’s role as head of a new museum of LGBTQ+ history is at times flat-footed in the way it works in educational titbits, but also a source of more goofy jokes. Should the museum have an animatronic gallery of gay heroes, like Disney World’s Hall of Presidents? Should there be a hologram of Eleanor Roosevelt played by Amy Schumer?
Bros races along almost until the end when it embraces romcom elements, including a montage, that land as more clichéd than subversive. But that doesn’t make the rest of this charming film any less entertaining and effective.
The film’s major publicity point, which Eichner has been spouting for weeks, is that it is the first studio, theatrically released romcom about a gay relationship, with the major characters played by LQBTQ+ actors. True enough, but that’s treading a very fine, inside-industry line. It’s not as if Fire Island doesn’t exist. Both films are delightful examples of what a fresh new romcom can be.
★★★★☆
Bros is released in the US on 30 September.
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