Bros ★★★½

“MAYBE we can be emotionally detached together.”

That’s the question Bobby asks of himself and Aaron in the very funny Bros.

It’s difficult to strike that balance between raunchy and romantic comedy but Bros’ co-writers Nicholas Stoller and Billy Eichner have succeeded where most other comedies don’t even try, instead being one or the other.

Stoller, who has a few half-decent comedies in his filmography, also directs this one, but it’s the script and performances that are the key ingredients.

Eichner, playing Bobby, and Luke Macfarlane as Aaron are also gay in real life which adds immensely to the film’s authenticity.

Bobby is a little like the character that Woody Allen made an art of playing – an intelligent, judgemental and frustrating Jewish man who over-compensates for his insecurities with manic confidence.

As a podcast host he rants about everything from politics to fashion but saves his main vitriol for “those gay motherfuckers you can’t trust.”

Bobby is also progressing his lifelong ambition of opening a Museum of LGBTQI History and some of the funniest scenes involve the byplay between his fellow members on the board who are constantly pushing their own agendas.

One thing that Bobby is absolutely clear on is his intent to not become emotionally attached as is also the case for Aaron when the two meet at a nightclub and start just ‘hanging out.’

But of course things don’t remain that simple and the pair navigate a relationship.

While it’s of course predictable, Bros is an intelligent, adult romantic comedy that does enough to breath some fresh life into many of the genre’s familiar tropes.

Eichner and Macfarlane have great chemistry and the beauty of the script is that both get to play several shades of their characters.

While being a gay man will help in better understanding some of the jokes, Bros is fun, raunchy and, at times touching, entertainment for all adults.

It’s the best comedy I’ve seen this year.