The Broken Hearts Club: A Romantic Comedy | |
---|---|
DVD release cover
|
|
Directed by | Greg Berlanti |
Produced by | Mickey Liddell Joseph Middleton Julie Plec (co-producer) |
Written by | Greg Berlanti |
Starring |
Ben Weber Timothy Olyphant Matt McGrath Zach Braff Dean Cain Andrew Keegan Billy Porter |
Music by | Christophe Beck |
Cinematography | Paul Elliott |
Edited by | Todd Busch |
Distributed by | Sony Pictures Entertainment |
Release date
|
|
Running time
|
94 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $1 million |
Box office | $2,019,121 |
The Broken Hearts Club: A Romantic Comedy is a 2000 American film written and directed by Greg Berlanti. It follows the lives of a group of gay friends in West Hollywood, centered on a restaurant owned by the fatherly Jack (John Mahoney) and the softball team he sponsors. The friends rely on each other for friendship and support as they search for love, deal with loss, and discover themselves.
The Broken Hearts Club was Berlanti's first feature film, based around his circle of friends at the time. The movie was met with generally favorable reviews from critics, receiving praise for portraying homosexuality as normal and its characters as average gay men. The film focuses on "the universal themes of romance, acceptance and family", as opposed to AIDS, coming out, and sex, which are more controversial and stereotypical topics commonly covered in LGBT films.
The film follows the lives of a group of gay friends in West Hollywood. Among the group is Dennis (Timothy Olyphant), a photographer who often holds the group together; Cole (Dean Cain) a handsome, charismatic actor who — often unwittingly — ends up with other people's boyfriends; Benji (Zach Braff), the youngest member of the group, with a penchant for gym-bodied men, who finds himself going through some bad times; Howie (Matt McGrath), a psychology student who is known for overthinking every situation; Patrick (Ben Weber), the cynic of the group; and Taylor (Billy Porter), who has just broken up with his long-term boyfriend.
Guiding them is restaurant owner Jack (John Mahoney) who provides them with advice and jobs for some of them who work part-time as servers at his restaurant. But when tragedy strikes, and the group's newest member, 23-year-old Kevin (Andrew Keegan), attempts to fit in, their friendships are put to the test.