A GAY OLD TIME

 

MOVIE

Bros

Director Nicholas Stoller, Bily Eichner
Review Ray Chan

Be prepared for a frantic start to this offering: the first 45 minutes or so of this rom-com are some of the funniest about same-sex shenanigans that this reviewer has seen. The one-liners, jokes and witty observations come so thick and fast that the audience barely has time to settle in with their popcorn and drinks before the guffaws begin.

    Set in New York City, the movie surrounds the aloof, neurotic and observant Bobby Leiber (Billy Eichner), the popular host of a podcast revered by the LGBQT+ community. 

    He perceptively questions why straights keep playing homosexuals in movies, and films that portray gay life as tragic, somewhat realising it’s a mirror of his own: a successful career paired with a lack of romantic interest. Until he meets his polar opposite, that is, the Adonis-like Aaron, a probate attorney who is also as jaded with his lot, desiring instead to be a chocolatier. 

    There is discord and harmony as the two men’s divergent personalities and backgrounds merge, and their bumps on the road to a coupledom will ring true for all kinds of audiences of every sexual proclivity.  

    Director/co-writer Nicholas Stoller adds in some outlandish elements while Eichner, as co-writer, mixes in enough queer humour and insight to please fans and educate others. 

    The ensemble cast is impressive and includes, rightfully so, members of the gay persuasion: Miss Lawrence, Dot-Marie Jones (TV’s Glee), TS Madison and Jim Rash as the habitually disrespected bi-sexual man, with the affable and larger-than-life Guy Branum shining as Bobby’s best friend. 

    At just under two hours, this love shack sags a little in the middle after its knee-slapping first half, but pulls itself together satisfactorily in the end. The film is frequently funny and well-observed in the way it presents a culture that knows it’s different than others and finds ways to apply that specificity on a universal level.

    Eichner is a very perceptive lunatic, the sort that often helm late-night TV talk shows. This hysterical production could be his calling card.

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