Over the weekend I watched the movie "Brian and Charles". This was the date night pick in fact. It was my turn, I remembered seeing a trailer for this movie and it was on sale to rent on VOD. That was all I needed to be sold on it. It also helps that the movie is 90 minutes long, it is a comedy and it is small.

For those that may not know, and I imagine there are a lot of you, the plot of this movie is very straight forward. We have a lonely inventor living in Wales who goes out scavenging one day. He finds a mannequin head and decides to build a robot. He succeeds and then some stuff happens. Again, very easy to follow and very straight forward. But in watching this movie I found it to be so much more.

I am a big "Napoleon Dynamite" fan. It is one of my all time favorite movies. It is comfort food for me. I got a lot of the same feelings from "Brian and Charles". Both movies are small. Both movies have tiny casts. Both movies take place in what many would consider to be boring places. Both movies focus on an outcast who makes friends their own way. And both movies have some of the best friendships I have ever seen. "Brian and Charles" is one of the best friendship movies I have ever watched. I read a review afterward that called it the "bromance movie of 2022". I couldn't agree more. That is what this movie is about deep down for me. Brian is lonely. He has no one in his life. He is seemingly on his own. He has no siblings. His parents are not around anymore. He only interacts with a few of the townspeople. He is just by himself. But then he makes Charles. At first you do not think he works, but after the storm something clicked in Brian and he was fully functioning.

The first fifteen minutes of the movie are Brian being interviewed and then building Charles. After Charles comes to life the movie picks up. The scenes between Brian and Charles are magical. We get to see Charles essentially grow up. He has childlike tendencies at first. He reads a dictionary to learn the language, but he still acts like a little kid. He gets upset when Brian leaves. He gets incredibly excited like a puppy when he returns. Charles asks questions constantly. He learns to dance, to sleep, to eat and to interact. As the days pass Charles gets older. When he is a "teenager", he starts to act up. He wants to go out and experience things. When Brian relents things go a bit haywire. Sure Brian gets a crush to go out on walks with him, but he and Charles are constantly at each other's throats. At one point the town bully comes and steals Charles after initially meeting him. Charles is treated awfully there, and Brian and his new girlfriend hatch a plan to save him, Spoiler alert, it works. How it works, I will not spoil that, it is funny and great. I loved that scene. The way the movie ends is perfect for this movie as well.

While watching I never lost the smile on my face. Even when things got a bit more serious they always undercut the drama with a joke or two. The actors all fully committed and it shows. They went for it and they hit a homerun. This is a unique movie even while it is a common movie trope. I loved this movie. I have already recommended it to a few people who share similar opinions on movies. "Brian and Charles" is a true hidden gem. I definitely recommend seeking it out and watching it. It is so worth your time.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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