With Bromances Too, Breaking Up Is Hard to Do

July 15, 2009— -- Oh, to bask in the blush of the bromance.

Matt Damon and Ben Affleck. Brad Pitt and George Clooney. Beavis and Butthead. They are the pillars on which a whole new category of relationship rests, examples of a kind of love with which women, even the Angelina Jolies of the world, simply can't compete.

At its height, the bromance allows boys to just be boys: to play PlayStation and wolf down wings, to freak out about football and knock back beers, to drunkenly drawl "I love you, man" and enjoy the Paul Rudd film of the same name. And once in a very long while, as Jonah Hill's Seth did to Michael Cera's Evan in "Superbad," to playfully poke the other on the nose, a moment of tenderness in an otherwise testosterone-loaded partnership.

But again, boys will be boys. They'll tire of each other. They'll crave "alone time." They'll think themselves worthy of solo billing, not content to be considered a two-for-one special.

And then, in art and in life, the bromance breaks up.

Or at least, it grows up, as happened in the season six premiere of "Entourage" Sunday, when Eric Murphy (Kevin Connolly) finally detached from his client and BFF, Vincent Chase (Adrian Grenier) and moved into his own house. While E hemmed and hawed about the decision and Vinnie swore he'd be "fiiiine" living on his own, at episode's end, the latter character sat alone in the dark in his multi-million dollar mansion, a star without his sidekick.

In real life, actors Ed Westwick and Chace Crawford, buddies and roomies since they jumpstarted their careers on the CW drama "Gossip Girl," reportedly cut the cohabitation cord as well. According to Usmagazine.com, earlier this week, Crawford checked out of the New York City apartment the two shared for more than a year, supposedly because Westwick's a slob. Representatives for the bromantics didn't return ABCNews.com's requests for comment.

Best Friends, No More

Dudes who know agree that establishing separate addresses is the fastest way to break up and move on from a bromance.

"Living together makes things very easy. The logistical thing of always having the other person around can be as important a motivation for male friendship as actually liking each other," said Adam Rich, co-founder of the men's lifestyle site Thrillist.com. "But ultimately, you have to go off on your own and do all those things that normal adult males do."

It's a tale as old as time -- or at least, as old as that episode of "Friends" where Joey abandons Chandler and their dingy dwelling for a brand new bachelor pad of his own. It wasn't easy then (they fought back tears with a game of foosball during the final stage of Joey's move-out) and it's not easy in real life.

"With a real breakup, you can slag off on the girl and be especially angry, but with the bromance breakup, you can't talk trash about one guy to your other guy friends," Rich said. "You also can't just go out and find a new guy. That's the thing about dudes finding guy friends, you don't just approach someone you see on the street or at a bar. It's not like picking up a girl."

So what's a newly BFF-less dude to do? Shrug it off. Previews for "Entourage's" next episode show Vince bouncing back to his usual playboy personality. Westwick's one of the most sought-after members of young Hollywood -- plenty of single ladies will gladly deal with his alleged sloppiness for a chance to share his bed. Perhaps the best thing about bromance breakups is the fact that no one took the bromance all that seriously anyway.

"For most guys, there just comes a time when you need some space, you need to get out there and make a name for yourself," said Randy Goldberg, brand manager for men's e-mail magazine UrbanDaddy. "I think the bromance is a trucker hat of a fad. It was an uncomfortable phenomenon to begin with."