Coming Attractions,  entertainment,  Film Festivals,  Film Reviews,  TIFF 2022,  Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF)

Billy Eichner Makes Bros A Queer Comedy For The Ages

I’m not gonna lie, after seeing Fire Island earlier this year, I scurried into the theatre with a skeptic hat and pen in hand. I mean this is coming from the dude who hilariously and unapologetically runs after people on the streets of New York literally screaming in their faces.  Well, baby, I’m hear to tell you this insightful rom-com about a witty, cynical podcaster navigating romance with a handsome lawyer is a pitch-perfect portrait of queer New York in all its glory!  Billy Eichner worked it all the way out with Bros.  I hollered, laughed and was talking back to the screen…for real though it was just that fantabulous.

Part satire, part rom-com, yet brilliantly disguised as anti-rom-com,  Bros is outrageous, insightful, and a celebratory collaboration between director and co-writer Nicholas Stoller and  Eichner giving is a laugh-out-loud good time that jumps into the most cynical of hearts. If I’m being honest my two favorite moments were the boardroom scenes and an iconic scene with Will and Grace Emmy Award-winner Debra Messing.  Y’all are not ready!!!

Born and bred in New York City, Bobby Leiber (Eichner) is a beloved podcast host, a self-appointed authority on contemporary queer culture with a merciless, irresistible wit, who prides himself on being unsentimental, emotionally unavailable and interested exclusively in uncomplicated hookups.

Enter Aaron (Luke Macfarlane). A lawyer specializing in wills and estates, he is frequently written off as mere man-candy. However when these two cross paths,  despite their differences, a spark beyond lust is ignited. Eventually they tiptoe into coupledom, which generates big emotions and deep insecurities in them both. What Eichner and Stoller excel in the most with this flick is that you are invested in the outcome to two human beings in love despite their gender or sexual preference and orientation.  This year alone we have seen more projects giving life to these types of stories and solidifying that the narrative needs and deserves a space in the cinematic landscape.

Paying loving tribute to the wild diversity within LGBTQ+ culture,  Bobby’s committee overseeing New York’s first LGBTQ+ history museum is simultaneously slaying, reading and harpooning modern identity politics. From a pop-culture perspective, the screenplay is hella smart, briskly paced, sexy, sweet, smart and a reminder that, no matter how self-assured you might be, there’s always the chance that someone else might see a better you. Bros may be making history on the big screen and all I have to say is – to quote my girl Lizzo…It’s About Damn Time.

I love, love love movies, watching them and discussing them...thus the birth of The Curvy Film Critic!!! Host/Producer/FilmCritic,Carla Renata is a member of such esteemed organizations as Critics Choice Association (Co-President Documentary Branch), African American Film Critics Association, Online Association of Female Film Critics and Alliance of Women Film Journalists. My op-eds or features have been seen in VARIETY, RogerEbert.com, Maltin on Movies, The Cherry Picks, IGN Movies, as well as being a frequent Guest Contributor to Fox 11-LA, Good Day LA, ET Live!, Turner Classic Movies, KCRW Press Play with Madeline Brand, The Cherry Picks, The Stream Team (Beond TV) ITV, Fox Soul's The Black Report, The ListTV and more. Catch my reviews on The Curvy Critic with Carla Renata - LIVE!!! Sundays 5pm PST via You Tube or Facebook Live. If you like what you read please shout me out and subscribe to The Curvy Critic on YouTube. You can chat with me across all social media platforms @TheCurvyCritic and as always, thanks for supporting a sista'

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