If laughter truly is the best medicine, then these two films will fill up the prescription for particular viewers.
Bros (Video on Demand, Amazon Prime) - Much has been made of the fact that this film is among the first openly gay Rom-Com’s released from a mainstream movie studio (Universal); and for many, the more pertinent question, is why only now? Co-written by comedian and lead star Billy Eichner along with Director Nicholas Stoller (Forgetting Sarah Marshall), its co-produced by Judd Apatow. Set in New York City, Eichorn takes on the lead role of a podcaster who’s also part of a committee that setting up the first LGBTQ+ museum in mid-town Manhattan. In the ‘classic’ boy meets boy scenario, the neurotic Bobby meets Aaron (Luke Macfarlane) in a gay bar, where Aaron is the typical buff guy who enters gay bars, and goes topless.
Aaron is in fact a lawyer by day, and it isn’t long before the two seeming opposites, find they complement each other in various cerebral, and purely physical ways. The script is funny and goes a joke every few seconds or so, at the outset. In fact, I’m sure some of the gay references and asides went by me, but it certainly takes care of the Com part of the film. The Rom part is sincere and doesn’t play it in any simplistic manner, as both main characters have their own versions of depth and texture. The Museum that Bobby is helping create makes for a strong case of the humor being all inclusive, and taking on lesbian, bi-sexual, trans, and queer notes, as needed. Entertaining but very talk-y, this is a film that hopefully finds an audience.
See How They Run (Video on Demand, Amazon Prime) - As a tribute, and at the same time, a meta-spoof of Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap and its revered status as the longest running play in West End history (since 1952, it only shut down during the pandemic), See How They Run has it’s heart in the right place. If there is a problem, it would be that it’s often too smart for it’s own good, and ironically, comes off as too staged or stylized, when a more organic flow and story-telling were required. Set in 1953, on the occcasion of the 100th staging of the play, it’s a period piece that develops as it’s own murder mystery. The first victim is the disgraced American Director who’s been hired to adapt the film version.
If there’s one strong feature of this film, it’s Saiorse Ronan doing comedy. She’s wonderful here, playing Constable Stalker to the Inspector Stoppard of Sam Rockwell - he looks the part of the dishevelled gumshoe, but his British accent keeps breaking. Everyone in the cast seems to be having fun, playing it campy and over the top, so it is a shame to find that while earnest and with a true love for the genre, it all feels rather lightweight. This is neither Knives Out, or The Play That Goes Wrong, and there’s a missing part to make the film really resonate. The meta- elements add fun, but I wonder how many will appreciate the references to Tom Stoppard, Julian Fellowes, Dickie Attenborough, Rex Harrison, and true crime cases.