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MESSAGE IN THE MOVIES

Bobby Leiber (Eichner) is a lonely guy who hopes someday to find someone to love. Approaching 40 and still single, he struggles with self-esteem. One day he sees Aaron (Macfarlane) across a dance floor but can’t imagine the two of them ever getting together. Complications ensue, but eventually, love finds a way to bring these two together.

Billy Eichner co-wrote the script for Bros with director Nicholas Stoller and the two of them spent years developing what they hoped would be the first American gay romantic comedy from a major studio featuring an entirely LGBTQI+ principal cast. To his credit, Eichner was aggressively promoting this movie weeks before its release.

There have been dozens of independent films with LGBTQ casts as well as major Hollywood films (Brokeback Mountain, Philadelphia, The Birdcage, Call Me by Your Name) with gay characters played by straight actors.

Bros wants to encourage a conversation about gender identity and educate a wider audience about the things that matter to LGBTQ folks and demonstrate that we have much more in common than the things that set us apart. That’s a discussion that we need to have but I am not persuaded that this film is going to be the touchstone that its creators hoped it would be. I would compare this movie to 1967’s Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner; in both films the messaging is so overt, it gets in the way of the story.

I have a lot of goodwill for Billy Eichner. He has done much good work and was absolutely brilliant in Billy on the Street, a game show filmed live on the streets of New York City. He is sincere and openly hopeful about life and wanted this movie to demonstrate the possibilities of a world in which everyone can appreciate the struggles as well as the gifts of our LGBTQ friends and neighbors.

While watchable and at times very funny, Bros just doesn’t work as a movie. There’s just too much stuffed into its two hours. Too many long monologues. Too many history lessons. Too many in-jokes (including making fun of Hallmark movies – in which Luke Macfarlane has been in over two dozen). A subplot involving the creation of the first LGTBQ history museum has a board of directors meant to represent the diversity of gender identities but then – rather than treating this museum with respect – the film turns it into a tourist attraction featuring a thrill ride as well as the Hall of Bisexuals (a spoof of Disney’s animatronic Hall of Presidents).

While the film eventually celebrates a committed relationship between Bobby and Aaron, in making fun of Grindr and casual hookup culture, scenes of one-night stands and group sex are bound to rankle the nerves of folks opposed to the gay/trans community.

After leaving a Friday afternoon screening, I commented to my wife that I predicted that Bros would have a terrible time finding a wider audience. And – no surprise – its opening weekend was one of the worst in recent history.

I agree with Billy Eichner that we should be having this conversation, and people of faith need to be actively seeking ways to reach out to the world with hope. However, with our denomination currently divided over many things from Biblical authority as well as the ordination and marriage of LGBTQI+ persons, most United Methodists feel forced to choose sides rather than walk across the room to embrace one another.

I would just like to suggest that a good starting point for the crossover conversation that Eichner wants to have has already been created. Modern Family ran for 11 years on ABC and featured an extended family that included a gay couple who adopt a Vietnamese girl. It had heart and soul, and the first season included the struggle of one family member to accept the relationship. With humor and heart, love wins.

Halo and Pitchfork Rating:

Four  halos: A gay rom-com that aspires to crossover to a mainstream audience, but doesn’t quite stick the landing.
Three pitchforks: A few tame depictions of group sex; some drug use; drinking; casual conversational swearing.

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