The Broken Hearts Club

The film follows the lives of a group of gay friends in West Hollywood. Among the group is Dennis, a photographer who often holds the group together; Cole, a handsome, charismatic actor who — often unwittingly — ends up with other people's boyfriends; Benji, the youngest member of the group who has a penchant for gym-bodied men and who finds himself going through some bad times; Howie, a psychology student who is known for overthinking every situation; Patrick, the cynic of the group; and Taylor, who has just broken up with his long-term boyfriend. Guiding them is restaurant owner Jack, 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, attempts to fit in, their friendships are put to the test. ==Cast==

Development The Broken Hearts Club was written by Greg Berlanti about his own circle of friends at the time; the Howie/Marshall storyline is semi-autobiographical to a relationship Berlanti once had. The film had a working title of The Broken Hearts League as well as ''8x10's'', a term Berlanti's sister used to describe the men he dated. Casting The production was able to secure funding from the studio with the casting of John Mahoney and Timothy Olyphant. and took place over the course of thirteen days on a $1 million budget. The hardware store scene was filmed in Laurel Hardware Company in West Hollywood. Music The original music for The Broken Hearts Club was scored by Canadian composer Christophe Beck. The film also made use of songs by The Carpenters, covered by Mary Beth Maziarz. On September 19, 2000, WILL Records (now Lakeshore Records) released the film's soundtrack. • "Love Machine, Part 1" – The Miracles • "From Here to Eternity" (radio edit) – Giorgio Moroder vs. Danny Tenaglia • "Let the Music Play" (Junior Vasquez Mix) – Shannon • "Beg for It" (Mad Tizzy Mix) – Barry Harris • "Time for Love" – Kim English • "Share My Joy" – GTS featuring Loleatta Holloway • "Learn2Love" – Kim English • "Young Hearts Run Free" – Kym Mazelle • "(They Long to Be) Close to You" – Mary Beth Maziarz • "We've Only Just Begun" – Mary Beth Maziarz ==Release==

The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on January 29, 2000. It received a limited release on September 29, 2000, followed by a wide release on October 20, 2000. The Broken Hearts Club was released on Region 1 DVD by Sony Pictures on March 6, 2001 and on Region 2 DVD. ==Reception==

Box office In its opening weekend, showing at seven theaters, the film made $109,694. The Broken Hearts Club grossed $272,536 outside of the United States, bringing its worldwide gross to $2,019,121. According to Metacritic, the film has scored 51% based on 17 reviews, indicating mixed or average reviews. Film critic Roger Ebert gave the film three stars out of four, praising the film's positivity and "the ordinariness of its characters and what they talk about." Ebert noted that "instead of angst, Freudian analysis, despair and self-hate, the new generation sounds like the cast of a sitcom, trading laugh lines and fuzzy truisms." Jami Bernard from Daily News commented "It's the first mainstream gay movie that feels totally comfortable in its shoes". Desmond Ryan from Philadelphia Inquirer described the film as having an "undemanding and reassuring amiability that made it a crowd-pleaser at Sundance." Bob Longino of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution summarized the movie as "sometimes funny, sometimes a yawn". The film was often compared to the 1970s film The Boys in the Band, directed by William Friedkin, although Ebert and LaSalle both felt that The Broken Hearts Club was generally more upbeat and optimistic. Schwarzbaum of Entertainment Weekly exclaimed that the film shows "how far homosexual characters have come since The Boys in the Band, sad AIDS dramas, and cute identity peekaboo sitcoms". Longino, however, commented that "Broken Hearts doesn't break much new ground. Actually, The Boys in the Band did the groundbreaking 30 years ago." Accolades ==References==