by Beth AndrewsI recently saw Sherlock Holmes (yes, I am way behind in my movie watching, but at least I saw it before Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows comes out in December *g*) and I loved it! The humor, the action, Sherlock's brilliance in solving the mystery...it was all fabulous fun! But my favorite part was the love story.
After all, I am a romance writer ;-)
But I'm not talking about the romance between Sherlock and Irene or even the one between Watson and his beloved Mary. What I'm talking about was the clear and heartfelt affection between Sherlock and Watson. These two men are as close as brothers who, though they often disagree, would risk their life to keep the other safe. And while Watson wanted to move on with his life with his new fiancée, he just couldn't force himself to walk away from Holmes. Not completely. Just as Holmes couldn't imagine his life without his trusted sidekick and did everything in his power to dissuade Watson from leaving (luckily, he came around in the end and even helped Watson get Mary an engagement ring *g*)
I love when friendship between men is portrayed so well! Nora Roberts does an excellent job of this, especially in books like her Sign of Seven trilogy about three lifelong friends who are destined to fight a horrible evil. Another favorite is the bond between the men of Suzanne Brockmann's Troubleshooters and Tall, Dark and Dangerous series.
What are some of your favorite 'Bromances' in books, movies, TV and/or real life (Matt Damon and Ben Affleck? Matthew McConaughey and Lance Armstrong?)?
37 comments:
Sam and Dean!
The bromance between Arthur and Merlin in the BBC series that plays on Syfy in the states is fantastic.
I just read two Lucky Harbor novels by Jill Shalvis with a wonderful bromance. In fact, when I lent them to my friend, I told her it was the best part. (I liked the books a lot, but the male friendship was really well done.)
I love writing guy friends. I purposely pitched connected books about brothers because writing that kind of relationship is so much fun for me.
P.S. Speaking of Affleck and Damon--the scene in Good Will Hunting when Affleck's character tells Will about his fantasy that some morning he'll knock on the door and Will won't be there? I could watch that scene all day and night and not get tired of it.
What a fun topic! And making me think so early this Monday morning. LOL
I like the duo of guys in comedy.
Love David Spade and Chris Farley together. Heck, I even like Harry and Lloyd in Dumb and Dumber. My favorite has to be Steve Martin and John Candy in Planes, Trains and Automobiles. Love when they're in that hotel together and Steve Martin gets out of the shower and there are no towels. Give me a straight guy and a screwup and you've got great comedy.
I haven't really written any bromance in my books and I'm writing brothers. I'm going to have to think hard on this because I tend to ignore the need for men to have a buddy. Now you've inspired me, Beth :)
I love Ted and Marshall (and Barney) on How I Met Your Mother. They truly have each other's back, even though Barney sometimes doesn't appear to. But Marshall and Ted are especially close.
About Damon and Affleck, I think it is very cool that these two friends wrote the movie that gave them both an acting career and fame. What a way to break into the business! Obviously, they're both very intelligent.
Fun and interesting topic, Beth. My son loved Scrubs, so I've watch a few shows in my time. JD and Turk have a very sweet, funny relationship.
I love a bit of bromance in my romance novels! I always have to think of Pamela Clare's I-Team novels. These guys have a great bromance! In movies I love The Wedding Crashers just for this. They are like "wingmen" to each other.
Oh I would have to say Butch Cassidy and The Sundace Kid... Paul Newman and Robert Redford had a wonderful friendship until the day Paul died.
Ellen, Sam and Dean are two of my favorite brothers! I haven't caught the last year and a half of Supernatural but I've promised myself I'd start at the beginning (again *g*) and watch them all before the end of this year. Love the dynamics between them!
I'll have to check out the Lucky Harbor series!
I love writing guy friends. I purposely pitched connected books about brothers because writing that kind of relationship is so much fun for me.
You write them so well! Loved your excerpt the other day with the brothers *g* Can't wait to read their stories!
Love that scene in Good Will Hunting! Makes me all teary-eyed just thinking about it :-)
Hey, Liz! Sorry to push for early morning thinking *g* I'm pretty much brain dead until after my second cup of coffee.
Oh, Planes, Trains and Automobiles was so funny! What a classic movie and Steve Martin and John Candy were so great in their roles! I've heard that the bromance in the action/comedy Midnight Run was really well done. I'll have to check it out!
LOL on the inspiration! Can't wait to read the bromances in your new books :-)
I agree with Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Also, even though they aren't friends, Raylan and Boyd on Justified have a fascinating relationship. Great topic, Beth. I just watched Sherlock, too--last week! We're on the same schedule.
I've had two sets of really strong guy friends in books I've written--maybe more but these two sort of wrote their own stories so they stand out in my memory. I didn't have to think about their friendship--and how important it was to them and my story--because it simply was. Some women can feel a bit intimidated by this bond--might even add to the conflict, but a true heroine will figure out that this other person is part of the whole.
Fun post, Beth. And thanks for the heads up on the new Sherlock release date. I really enjoyed the first one. My only complaint: Robert Downey, JR talks sooo fast, I'm forever pausing and rewinding to catch the oh-so clever dialogue.
Deb
Hi, JV. I've never watched HIMYM but I love any show that portrays strong friendships *g* I guess we could include Friends in here as Ross, Chandler and Joey were very close.
Seems to me there are quite a few bromances on TV like in Burn Notice and Psych (though I've only seen a few episodes of each). Love the bromance between Provenza and Flynn on the closer :-)
Helen, my son use to watch Scrubs, too *g* Great pick for a bromance! Another of my son's favorite shows is The Office and I think we could classify Michael and Dwight as having a bromance ;-)
Claudia, I haven't heard of the I-Team novels! I'll have to check them out *g* Oh, Wedding Crashers had a great bromance! I love Owen Wilson and I've heard he and Ben Stiller are good friends. That would be a fun bromance :-)
Great pick, Kathleen! Love that they were such good friends both on and off-screen :-)
Grace Burrows has a historical series out that show great brotherly love. The Heir and The Soldier are out now. There will be at least one more book. These brothers actually hug each other and you can see the love protrayed between them. The hero of The Soldier is an iligetimate brother who comes to live with the his father when he is 6 yrs old. Tina Leonard also has some good cowboy brother stories that shows good bromance.
I love best friends and brother stories that show the love between brothers.
Beth, Tombstone was on TV the other night and my husband and I watched it again. Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday had a true BRomance. They had each other's backs. At the end when Doc is dying, he says to Wyatt, "If you ever had any feelings for me, you'll leave. Please." He didn't want Wyatt to see him die. With tears in his eyes, Wyatt got up and walked out of the room. Very touching I teared up too.
I love Scrubs too. JD and Turk are hilaious. I just never want to go to that hospital.
I have three brother's stories coming up, The Hardin Boys. They were fun to write. They argue. They fight. But they're always there for each other.
Fun post.
Linda
Mentioning Wyatt Earp brought to mind the Lonesome Dove mini-series with Tommy Lee Jones and Robert Duvall. They had a great bromance in that mini-series! I'm not normally big on westerns, but I loved that series.
Matt and Ben for sure. For TV - I like Franklin and Bash. They are two lawyers and they are great friends. Also, Hawaii 5-0 with McGarrett and Danno.
Going way back, Dan Ackroyd and John Belushi in The Blues Brothers. Those guys crack me up.
I loved the bromance in Boston Legal between Denny Crane (William Shatner) and Alan Shore (James Spader). They used to have sleepovers and everything. It was a hugely touching aspect of the series for me.
Karina
Chris Farley and David Spade in "Tommy Boy".
Sorry for disappearing! It's been a hectic Monday *g*
Jeannie, I have Justified in my Netflix queue and I can't wait to watch it! LOL on being on the same schedule :-) I'm hoping to catch up on my movies soon but I also want to re-watch some of my favorites with my daughters. I need more TV/movie time!
Deb, good point about some heroines being intimidated by a strong bromance. But you're right, a true heroine will know her hero's relationships with his brothers/friends is a big part of who he is *g*
LOL on how fast RDJ talks. I thought the same thing! Luckily, my kids are all fast talkers (and mumblers - they're teenagers *g*) so I could understand him but I really had to concentrate.
Hey, Snookie! Thanks so much for the recommendations. More books to put on my list - yay!
I have a soft spot for best friend and brother stories, too. Nora Roberts' Chesapeake Bay was a great series about adopted brothers. Love the bond between them!
Linda, Wyatt and Doc from Tombstone is a great pick! Thanks for mentioning them!
Can't wait to read your Hardin Brothers' stories!
JV, I remember when Lonesome Dove was on but I don't think i watched it. I'll have to check it out. Thanks *g*
Beth, I loved that Chesapeake Bay series that Nora did also!
The Bromance in FRIENDS between Joey & Chandler always made me laugh. A great deal of love & hugging going on & even a kiss I remember.
JV, Lonesome Dove is my all time favorite book, well deserving of the Pulitzer: the mini-series is wonderful too.
Inspectors Morse & Sergeant Lewis from the old BBC show. Now Lewis has his own show.
Tammy, I haven't seen Franklin and Bash although I do like the actors who star in it. I've caught a few episodes of Hawaii Five-O and you're so right about that bromance! Love how they're so different but are so perfect as partners :-)
Good pick, Joan! Oh, and how about Dan Aykroyd and Eddie Murphy in Trading Places? Or Eddie Murphy and Nick Nolte in 48 Hours? Love those movies *g*
Karina, I never watched Boston Legal and now I'm kicking myself for it *g* I'm sure a bromance between those two was fantastic!
For some reason, this reminded me of the bromance between Sipowicz (Dennis Franz) and Bobby (Jimmy Smits) on NYPD Blue. Although, as far as I can remember, they didn't have sleepovers ;-)
I'll have to add Tommy Boy to my must see list, Marcie! Thanks :-)
Marybelle, I think Friends did a great job depicting the bromance between Joey and Chandler *g* Loved that show!
Hey, Laura! Thanks for stopping by and for sharing one of your favorite bromances *g* I think I'm missing out by not watching more BBC shows!
The I-team novels by Pamela Clare are great. Love the bromance between Julian and Mark. Also, JR Ward has a great bromance in her Black Dagger Brotherhood series, between Butch and V. That one actually veers into romance territory but never quite goes all the way. In my books I have some strong friendships between my heroes and other men, but I'm not sure they qualify as bromances.
Hey, Tori! Thanks for stopping by. I completely forgot about the Black Dagger Brotherhood books! Glad you reminded me :-)
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