Fun
Frisky
Nostalgic
Intense
Adventurous
Choked Up
Curious
Romantic
Weird
No matter what end of the Olympics excitement scale you’re on — 1 for already burnt out, 10 for Leslie Jones’ Twitter feed — you might want to do yourself a favor and get to watching The Bronze. Written by The Big Bang Theory’s Melissa Rauch, the movie could not have possibly arrived on Amazon Video at a more appropriate time. Rauch stars as Hope Annabelle Greggory, a bitter, foul-mouthed one-time Olympic Bronze Medalist who is suddenly tasked with coaching a young gymnast in the hopes of getting her to the Toronto Olympics.
The Bronze got little to no attention when it came out back in March, around the same time Sebastian Stan (who plays Hope’s rival, Lance) started doing press for a little movie called Captain America: Civil War, so yeah, you could say it was outshined a little bit. Actually, if you do remember the movie, it’s probably because of an insane, athletic sex scene between Stan and Rauch’s characters where they do a ton of gymnastics onto each other’s genitals. It’s really the only scene from the film that had any lasting power, which is pretty much entirely due to Stan’s involvement. (Bucky Barnes doing a crazy sex scene is essentially the internet’s Christmas.) But there’s more to The Bronze than that — seriously!
First of all, it’s filled with comedy nerd royalty like Gary Cole, Cecily Strong, and Thomas Middleditch as Hope’s love interest, Twitchy. His real name is Ben but Hope calls him Twitchy because he has a nervous tic and she’s kind of mean. But he likes her anyway! (By the way, this is an official demand to make Middleditch a permanent romantic comedy lead. If this movie proves anything, it’s that he’s a young Hugh Grant in the making, no exaggeration.)
Also, if you’re tired of your social media feeds being a seemingly endless stream of the American flag and gold medal emojis, Hope’s resentment towards all things gymnastics will resonate with you. When the movie starts, she’s living in her own shadow, wearing a red, white, and blue sweatsuit pretty much constantly and buying new sneakers in effort to pretend brands are still trying to get her endorsement. At the same time, she’s unhappy, lazy, and doesn’t respond well to fan encounters. If you’re all in on the sportsball, the many well-choreographed gymnastics scenes (including the sex scene, duh) will leave you excited to flip back to NBC by the time the credits roll.
In a time when female Olympians are being referred to as “adorable” and being defined by who they’re married to, Hope is a breath of fresh air. She’s difficult, yes, and unapologetic and rude and loud and self-absorbed, but so are thousands of male characters who get excused for that exact behavior on what is essentially a daily basis. The Bronze makes a point to show that she’s not a bad person, she’s just damaged, and that damaged people can eventually get better. Didn’t think you were going to get all that from an Olympics comedy, did you? The Bronze contains multitudes! Don’t sleep on it for a second longer and catch it before the Olympics are over on August 21st.
