The Broken Hearts Club: A Romantic Comedy Review
by "Steve Rhodes" (Steve DOT Rhodes AT InternetReviews DOT com)November 2nd, 2000
THE BROKEN HEARTS CLUB: A ROMANTIC COMEDY
A film review by Steve Rhodes
Copyright 2000 Steve Rhodes
RATING (0 TO ****): **
Filmmakers seem to think that there's nothing better than a remake with a twist. Writer/director Greg Berlanti's THE BROKEN HEARTS CLUB: A ROMANTIC COMEDY is an amalgamation of dozens of old television sitcoms. The twist, other than raunchier language, is that all of the characters are gay. They spout the same nonsensical lines with television sitcoms' machine gun cadence. But the rapid-fire elocution of clichéd lines isn't any funnier because the barbs are directed at the same sex. Rather than treating women as sex objects, the men in this story treat other men as sex objects.
Most of the characters appear to shop at the same clothing store and to get their hair done by the same stylist. Uniformly handsome, they can sometimes be hard to tell apart just like contestants at a beauty contest, which is what the movie frequently approximates. "I hate the city -- everybody is better looking than me," one is heard to say. The film is set in Hollywood, well, West Hollywood, so one might expect the beauty quotient to be high. "Gay men in LA are a bunch of 10s looking for 11s," Patrick (Ben Weber) complains.
In the film's defense, it is good-spirited and breezy. A glossy picture, it wants badly to charm you with its debonair demeanor.
Jack, played by veteran actor John Mahoney, the only guy much older than 25, is the organizer of the "Broken Hearts" softball team that plays in the West Hollywood league. Most of the guys, however, are more interested in hitting on other guys. Jack kids Dennis (Timothy Olyphant) about having a "meaningless sexual experience every 10 minutes." Dennis corrects him. It's only 15.
Among the many unbelievable scenes are the ones in which they stop strangers on the street to ask if one of them looks like a "fag." Inevitably, those surveyed vote in the affirmative.
The script's best line comes when Taylor's (Billy Porter) lover leaves him for a trainer named Dash. "I was left for a punctuation mark!" Taylor whines.
The movie is just like Ted (Chris Wiehl), one of Dennis's many lovers. Ted is such a forgettable guy that Dennis and his friends can't even remember his name, so they just refer to him by his clothes -- J. Crew. The film is one big J. Crew.
THE BROKEN HEARTS CLUB: A ROMANTIC COMEDY runs long even at just 1:34. It is rated R for language, drug use and some sexual content and would be acceptable for older teenagers.
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