[.ca] Broken Hearts Club: A Romantic Comedy (Widescreen/Full ...

From Amazon.com:
After viewing the gay ensemble film The Broken Hearts Club--the subtitle of which helpfully points out that it's "a romantic comedy"--you might feel as if you've been offered a discussion conundrum not unlike the kind that Mike Myers's Linda "Coffee Talk" Richman would put forward: "The Broken Hearts Club is neither romantic nor comedic. Discuss." What it is, rather, is a gay male version of Steel Magnolias, right down to the funeral scene and hospital visit. While decidedly less melodramatic than that Southern chick flick, it still aspires to a kind of big-group love-in feeling that's only vaguely comic. And romance? Well, there's some somewhere, when the characters aren't carping about how the only thing they're good at is being gay. They all wrestle with their Big Issues--should Patrick (Ben Weber) donate sperm so his sister can have a baby with her lesbian lover? Will cynical Dennis (Timothy Olyphant) finally admit he loves just-out-of-the-closet Kevin (Andrew Keegan)? How will love-'em-and-leave-'em Cole (Dean Cain) feel when he's rejected by the closeted movie star?--but to little effect, despite some snappy one-liners and occasional keen observances of gay culture. Writer-director Greg Berlanti's screenplay still feels about two or three drafts away from completion, and when faced with stalling action, he opts for a montage set to one of many Carpenters' songs (covers, not the actual hits themselves). Kudos go to the acidic Weber for infusing what could have been a whiny character with a dry, intelligent wit, and the surprisingly charming Cain, who makes Cole someone you can't really hate too much despite all his faults--it would be like hating a puppy. If only all the characters were half as appealing. --Mark Englehart

HILARIOUS AND CLEVER:
Could any movie possibly address the issue of relationships (or lack there of) in the homosexual culture and better? NO! The Broken Hearts Club is hysterical and very cleverly written. It uses gay slang...showing definitions between scene changes. I just thought it was amazing! It's a must see. Prepare to laugh.

Utterly honest : whether we like it or not, this IS ...:
... exactly what Gay culture and lifestyle is like in any major city and is funny, unsettling honest (in the way that Gay people hated AL PACINO's racey yet truthful "Cruising" 1981 - sorry boyz, this was 1981 Gay culture), and totally believable and witty. I have to say, that ignoring the AIDS issue, the 'drag' factor (for the most part), and showing that all Gay men are not effeminate, needy or unhappy and promiscous for lack of anything else makes it the one and only film I would show my Mother ... she see my life then; and that of my friends : honestly, and not buttered up like the posh unreality of WILL & GRACE or QUEER EYE (like any masculine Gay man acts or dresses like that! : plezzze!). Honest, believable and totally a reflection of Gay culture in the last 10 years, with out all the 'false trimmings' media has perpetrated on the rest of us normal Gay people like the ones 'living' in this film. Some may not like it, because it is TOO honest. That quite honestly is why I really DID love it. Think of this as the late 2000 version of "Torch Song Trilogy" : times have change a tad of late, and this reflects it honestly like that othe movie did on 1988. Excellent.

Should not bill itself as a romantic comedy.:
Realistic or not I found this film extremely unentertaining. A romantic comedy that's as romantic as Hitler and as funny as herpes. A mate loaned me this and I was expecting a nice piece of fluffy entertainment that'd pass a couple of hours one evening, but what I got was a depressing and very bitter movie that left me feeling like crap. I thank god that its not realistic or I would happily jump back into the closet. A group of friends looking for love and I hope for the sake of others that they never find it. The blurb states they have little in common for the fact they play on the same team, on the contrary they are all egotistical, shallow, emotionless young men. I felt very little empathy to any of the characters with the exception of maybe Kevin and Benji, who both had slightly interesting traits. The obligatory death is filmed in such a way I felt complete indifference to it, something I felt throughout the film. A good cast that is completely wasted, I feel embarrassed for them. If you are a sadist who likes a film where you can despise the central characters and that at times induces anger I would recommend this film. If you actually want some entertainment, stay clear. Maybe this seems a little harsh, but I just can't believe it bills itself as a romantic comedy.

Pleasant movie:
I thought this movie was fun and cute. It's about a group of gay men, who experience different things, some that test their friendships, others that strengthen them. I'm at a loss for characters names but one character has commitment issues, another is dumped by a long time beau who cheated on him, one falls in love and falls into drugs, one is struggling with his sexuality and does eventually come out and is involved with two characters. Another character likes to sleep around and throw them away and gets a taste of his own medicine. One character's sister wants him to donate sperm to help create a child for her partner and herself. The men all play badly on a softball team. It's a cute movie with lots of laughs. My only complaint is, there was so much story tell but so little time, so as a result it seemed rushed in many areas. However it was a nice story about friendship and definately lots of laughs along the way.

Great One-Liners, Weak Plot:
The Broken Hearts Club is a gay softball team, made up of a group of close-knit friends. The movie follows this group as they try to find themselves...and hopefully discover happiness in the process. There's Dennis, a photographer longing for a life-companion; Kevin, newly out and still struggling to discover who he is; Cole, a egotistical actor who goes through men like Kleenex; Taylor, who is dumped by his long-time partner; Patrick, who feels he is unattractive to other men; and Benji, a club kid mixing with the wrong crowd. Watching over the group is their father-figure and coach, Jack. The movie is an ensemble piece, and the all-star cast works well together. The pretty much all-straight group of guys even manage to convincingly play gay, although would it have killed them to cast a few honest-to-goodness gay men? The real star of the movie is the one-liners, however. The script is full of stingingly witty dialogue. You should watch this movie for that, if nothing else. Now, if only they could have come up with a plotline as good as the quips. The story comes across as a little soap-opera like for my taste, and everyone just seems to bitch and complain their way through the whole hour and a half. And for a movie that actually has a line about how gay movies only portray stereotypes, every gay stereotype is presented. The subtitle claims that it is "A Romantic Comedy", but this is perhaps one of the most unromantic movies I have ever seen, and while it has some hilarious one-liners, it really isn't a comedy either. It's too depressing to be a comedy. What it really is, but won't admit, is a gay Steel Magnolias--which isn't necessarily a bad thing. They just couldn't pull it off as well. The ending left me with a slightly unsettled feeling, but overall, I did enjoy it. Recommended.