Film: “Bros” starring Billy Eichner and Luke MacFarlane

Rom-coms have never been my favorite genre. They’re a bit smoochy, gooey, and formulaic. Boy-meets-girl, boy-loses-girl, boy-regains-girl. Ho-hum.

Which is why “Bros,” the new rom-com written by and starring Billy Eichner, is a refreshing change of pace. First, because it’s edgy, fast-moving, and hilarious. And second, because it’s a gay rom-com.

Billy plays Bobby, a sourpuss NYC podcaster who’s just been named president of the first LGBT history museum. When he isn’t on the job, he’s on the gay Grindr app, looking for Mr. Right Now rather than Mr. Right. He’s sworn off relationships, you see.

That’s when he goes to a club and meets hunky, irresistible Aaron (Luke MacFarlane who is hunky, irresistible, and gay IRL). Aaron, turns out, is too busy working as a trust-and-estates attorney and hooking up on Grindr to have a real relationship. And of course that’s when the romance of Bobby and Aaron, as improbable as it seems, kicks in.

Like all relationships, this one has its challenges. Bobby, a manic, self-centered New Yorker, manages to suck all the air out of every room he enters, whereas Aaron, a more heteronormative type, prefers men who are buff and “bro” like himself, including Josh (Ryan Faucett), his muscle-bound HS hockey buddy who’s come out as gay and shows up in New York City for a visit.

Nevertheless, the Bobby-Aaron romance develops, albeit slowly, and eventually they meet Aaron’s parents from upstate New York. Aaron’s straight-laced mom (Amanda Bearse), a second-grade teacher, is taken aback when Bobby suggests incorporating LGBT history into her curriculum.

So…typical rom-com? Hardly. It plays more like a satire of a typical rom-com. But the film for all its laughs also has a serious message: the need to compromise in a relationship. Every couple knows that true love is not a “me me thing” thing; it’s an “us us us” thing.

Directed and co-written by Nick Stoller (“Forgetting Sarah Marshall”) and co-produced by Judd Apatow (“Knocked Up”), “Bros” has something for everybody—singles, happily-married couples (and thrupples), and of course gay men. But it’s hardly a niche film; it’s really for anyone who wants to laugh. Not, as Seinfeld once said, that there’s anything wrong with that.