The Broken Hearts Club
Directed by Greg Berlanti
Starring John Mahoney, Timothy Olyphant, Dean Cain
If you can say “yeehaw” without irony, chances are good you’re a redneck. If you call another man “girlfriend” without irony, chances are good you’re gay. Benji (Zach Braff) says it while he and his five best friends swish through the West Hollywood scene, waiting tables, taking photos, and worrying about finding a long term relations like boss Jack (Mahoney) and Purple Guy have. Otherwise, its pick up men at the club, pick up men at the softball game, pick up men at the gym, pick up men on the movie set, and trade them around, hoping to collect the whole set. Well, no wonder they won’t get anyone to stick around – it’s Attention Deficit Disorder brought on by amyl nitrate and Nouveau Beaujolais.
Other than that, life’s a barrel of laughs in this fey soap opera. About all these guys do well is act gay. Trendy, certainly, but not the sort of life skill your uncle encouraged you to learn. It’s fluff, but fluff with flowing jokes, and you almost start to care about these shiny, shiny boys. Dennis (Olyphant) takes some nice arty farty B&W angst-ridden urban photos, Cole is suitably self absorbed as a minor actor hoping to score some dialogue, and baseball nut Jack (Mahoney) makes his help join the West Hollywood League, where they can go one and 13 and still be “Most Improved Team.” Cranky Patrick (Ben Weber) has a lesbian sister who asks for a sperm donation so her girlfriend can get preggers. And you find out that someone had a crush on John Boy Walton.
It’s entertaining, anyway, sort of like listening to the couple across the hall go at it in the shower. And if you’re not really into that whole gay lifestyle thing, the film is very handy about explaining terms and such, so it’s educational on some level. It’s a fun film, but there’s not a whole lot of plot or special effects or wonderful scenery. It was just nicey nice.
