Bros Review (2024): Let’s Not Laugh at Adults Acting Like Children, Shall We?

– No Spoilers –

Besties Pini and Nisso aren’t the best at making sound decisions but their love for a football club and a devastating diagnosis results in them travelling from Jerusalem to Krakow to witness their favourite team’s match but those plans don’t go exactly to plan.

When the protagonists of the TV show that you’re watching are immature, you know the kind of humour that you are in for. Pini and Nisso are the kinds of immature and entitled brats who believe that everyone owes them something. Inflated egos are never the funniest things to watch, especially when it comes from two old men. But, then again, this might be a case of two adults trying to figure out what to do with their lives until they finally do so.

Pini and Nisso are so overtly annoying throughout their runtime. I don’t know what is supposed to be funny here or if are we supposed to laugh at two grown men destroying property, stealing and being a general nuisance but personally, this isn’t the kind of thing that appeals to me. There’s a scene in the series where Nisso and Pini get into a dangerous bike accident – the background score is light and quirky, everyone has those terrified but funny faces and there’s a general air that this should make us laugh. Unfortunately for Bros, we have seen this setup quite a few times in the past and it doesn’t appeal anymore.

Ignoring the blatantly odd title which tries to bring forth the bond between the protagonists in the worst way possible and doesn’t bring forth any emotions whatsoever, the relationship between Pini and Nisso is sweet and endearing when we only deal with themselves. They have grown up together and been through stuff with each other and it shows. There’s chemistry between the two friends that is undeniable but it’s not enough to keep viewers invested in this lukewarm production.

The other cast of characters is best left forgotten because that’s what the production does. The women in Pini and Nisso’s lives are supportive people who push the men’s storylines and are, in general, nice people who are “agreeable”. Other than that, there’s literally nothing that we learn about them. Their roles are hardly there and it’s so disappointing to see. Moreover, we also don’t learn much about the culture of this Israeli production, it’s quite cliched and repetitive, making us feel bored after a while.

However, the boredom, too, comes at a cost. When a personal tragedy strikes, Nisso takes it upon himself to be as destructive as possible to the people in his life. Now, let’s repeat – having a health crisis doesn’t give us the right to be awful to others. Of course, Nisso doesn’t say anything to anyone but only lashes out in horrible ways, taking everyone down with him. That, however, doesn’t mean that Pini is any better – he’s just equally annoying.

There are moments peppered in the show which gives us a glimpse into the two protagonists’ lives that makes us emotionally look at them. Only that… we don’t. The emotional moments are great but aren’t enough to erase the memory of the absolute disaster that these two men leave in their wake and make us wonder what went wrong here.

Another important point of Bros is that these two men are big fans of Beitar Jerusalem FC. Again, a missed opportunity because we are hardly shown any action. There are some glimpses into the madness but it’s mostly background noise and doesn’t get us excited. Most of the runtime is mindless bickering and destruction, annoying us to the end of our patience and then some.

Bros Review: Final Thoughts

Bros tries its best to make us laugh at the egocentricities of two adults who just make one bad decision after another. Although they try to make us feel for them and their plight, it never really goes anywhere because their actions aren’t something that can be excused. Although there are some heartfelt moments, especially the relationship between Nisso and Pini, there’s hardly anything that keeps us glued to our screens.

Bros is streaming on Netflix.

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