The Broken Hearts Club.
By Kevin Williams
March 21, 2001
With Lois off hoeing for Radio Shack, Clark heads out to West Hollywood,
leaving his cape and Heterosexuality back in Metropolis. Dean Cane (TV's
Lois & Clark: The New Adventures Of Superman) is a player in
this film's ensemble cast. This movie is about a group of friends, all looking
for love, and trying to keep each other sane until they find it. One of
the coolest things about this film is how different the guys are from one
another. The characters' ages and looks are as different as the issues they
face. There's a hottie actor who loses interest and dumps everyone he dates
in less than two weeks, while a couple has been together, happily, for more
than twenty years. There's a guy who's convinced that he is hideous because
he's not handsome, and another guy facing the agonies of doing Ecstasy.
Last but not least, the narrator of the story begins to ask himself if there's
more to life than throwing the best parties, and bedding men whose names
he can't remember. In fact this film has so much diversity it even has a
senior citizen and a black man in the cast. Homosexuality… it's not
just for white teens anymore!
Even with more than a few dramatic moments this film is a romantic comedy at heart. The Broken Hearts Club has some real laugh out loud scenes with the guys playing softball --some playing much more than others. And from the well-written banter that these characters deliver, you get a genuine sense that these guys really care about each other.
There is so much great acting in this flick that if I cite every example, I'll be up typing until the wee small. One scene in particular should be, no must be mentioned here: two of the friends, Howie (Matt McGrath) & Marshall (Justin Theroux,) had been dating until Howie demoted Marshall from boyfriend to just friends. Friends who have sex, whenever Howie can't find someone better. I don't want to give too much away, but when Marshall finally stops waiting for Howie, and starts moving on with his life, Howie (Matt McGrath) gives one of the best "I F@#%ed up and you don't know what you got until it's gone" speeches in cinema history! I guess Joni Mitchell was right.
Question: Is there entertainment targeted at Gay men that isn't as bitter and morbid as Showtime's Queer As Folk, or as brain dead as CBS's Some Of My Best Friends, without all the stereotypes of either?
Answer: The Broken Hearts Club, funny, sexy, and touching.
Written & Directed by Greg
Berlanti
Cast: Zach Braff, Dean Cain, Andrew Keegan, Nia Long, John Mahoney, Mary
McCormack, Matt McGrath, Timothy Olyphant, Billy Poter, and Ben Weber.
