SCREEN IT! ARTISTIC REVIEW: THE BROKEN HEARTS CLUB

"THE BROKEN HEARTS CLUB"
(2000) (Timothy Olyphant, Dean Cain) (R)

Alcohol/ Drugs	Blood/Gore	Disrespectful/ Bad Attitude	Frightening/ Tense Scenes	Guns/ Weapons
Heavy	None	*Moderate	Minor	Minor

Imitative Behavior	Jump Scenes	Music (Scary/Tense)	Music (Inappropriate)	Profanity
Mild	None	None	None	Extreme

Sex/ Nudity	Smoking	Tense Family Scenes	Topics To Talk About	Violence
Heavy	Minor	Minor	Mild	Mild

QUICK TAKE:: Romantic Comedy: A group of gay friends try to sort out being gay and its repercussions on their sex, social and love lives.

PLOT:

Dennis (TIMOTHY OLYPHANT) is a gay 28-year-old, West Hollywood photographer who's begun to grow tired of having casual sex and is looking for something more. As he does so and attempts to provide some guidance to Kevin (ANDREW KEEGAN), a 23-year-old who's just starting to come out of the closet, his various gay friends also find themselves confronting their sex, social and love lives.

There's Cole (DEAN CAIN), the handsome actor who seemingly has no problem leading a life filled with nothing but casual sex. Howie (MATT McGRATH), on the other hand, hasn't been able to get over his breakup with Marshall (JUSTIN THEROUX); Benji (ZACH BRAFF) finds that he's looking for love and sex in all of the wrong places; while Taylor (BILLY PORTER), the most flamboyant of the bunch, has just been dumped via a long distance phone call.

Patrick (BEN WEBER), who laments the fact that he's not as good looking as his friends, faces an entirely different dilemma. His sister, Anne (MARY McCORMACK), wants him to donate his sperm to her lesbian lover, Leslie (NIA LONG), so that they can have a child together.

As the men hang out at the "Jack of Broken Hearts" restaurant and club owned by their "mother hen," Jack (JOHN MAHONEY), and discuss all things homosexual, the men try to sort out their various relationships and ideologies about their romantic lives.

WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT?: If they're gay or are fans of someone in the cast, they just might.

WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: R: For language, drug use and some sexual content.

CAST AS ROLE MODELS:: TIMOTHY OLYPHANT plays a gay photographer who suddenly tires of casual sex and looks for something more (although he does sleep with Kevin). He uses some profanity.
DEAN CAIN plays a gay actor known for his love 'em and leave 'em type attitude, whose ability to blow off his casual sex partners makes him the envy of his friends. He sleeps with both Kevin and his famous co-star, but finds out what it's like to be on the receiving end of casual sex. He also uses strong profanity.
MATT McGRATH plays a gay man who's jealous of his ex-boyfriend and uses some strong profanity.
BEN WEBER plays a gay man who's upset that he's not as attractive as his other gay friends and must decide whether to donate sperm to his sister's lesbian lover so that the two women can have a child.
JOHN MAHONEY plays the gay owner of a restaurant who acts like a mother hen to all of the younger gay men and encourages them to play on his softball team. He briefly uses some strong profanity.
ANDREW KEEGAN plays a young man who's just starting to come out of the closet and sleeps with both Dennis and Cole.
BILLY PORTER plays a flamboyant gay man who's just been dumped by his boyfriend and uses some profanity.
ZACH BRAFF plays another gay man who begins to hang out with wrong crowd and uses drugs as well as strong profanity.
MARY McCORMACK plays Patrick's sister who wants him to donate sperm so that she and her lesbian lover, played by NIA LONG, can have a child.; DEAN CAIN plays a gay actor known for his love 'em and leave 'em type attitude, whose ability to blow off his casual sex partners makes him the envy of his friends. He sleeps with both Kevin and his famous co-star, but finds out what it's like to be on the receiving end of casual sex. He also uses strong profanity.
MATT McGRATH plays a gay man who's jealous of his ex-boyfriend and uses some strong profanity.
BEN WEBER plays a gay man who's upset that he's not as attractive as his other gay friends and must decide whether to donate sperm to his sister's lesbian lover so that the two women can have a child.
JOHN MAHONEY plays the gay owner of a restaurant who acts like a mother hen to all of the younger gay men and encourages them to play on his softball team. He briefly uses some strong profanity.
ANDREW KEEGAN plays a young man who's just starting to come out of the closet and sleeps with both Dennis and Cole.
BILLY PORTER plays a flamboyant gay man who's just been dumped by his boyfriend and uses some profanity.
ZACH BRAFF plays another gay man who begins to hang out with wrong crowd and uses drugs as well as strong profanity.
MARY McCORMACK plays Patrick's sister who wants him to donate sperm so that she and her lesbian lover, played by NIA LONG, can have a child.; MATT McGRATH plays a gay man who's jealous of his ex-boyfriend and uses some strong profanity.
BEN WEBER plays a gay man who's upset that he's not as attractive as his other gay friends and must decide whether to donate sperm to his sister's lesbian lover so that the two women can have a child.
JOHN MAHONEY plays the gay owner of a restaurant who acts like a mother hen to all of the younger gay men and encourages them to play on his softball team. He briefly uses some strong profanity.
ANDREW KEEGAN plays a young man who's just starting to come out of the closet and sleeps with both Dennis and Cole.
BILLY PORTER plays a flamboyant gay man who's just been dumped by his boyfriend and uses some profanity.
ZACH BRAFF plays another gay man who begins to hang out with wrong crowd and uses drugs as well as strong profanity.
MARY McCORMACK plays Patrick's sister who wants him to donate sperm so that she and her lesbian lover, played by NIA LONG, can have a child.; BEN WEBER plays a gay man who's upset that he's not as attractive as his other gay friends and must decide whether to donate sperm to his sister's lesbian lover so that the two women can have a child.
JOHN MAHONEY plays the gay owner of a restaurant who acts like a mother hen to all of the younger gay men and encourages them to play on his softball team. He briefly uses some strong profanity.
ANDREW KEEGAN plays a young man who's just starting to come out of the closet and sleeps with both Dennis and Cole.
BILLY PORTER plays a flamboyant gay man who's just been dumped by his boyfriend and uses some profanity.
ZACH BRAFF plays another gay man who begins to hang out with wrong crowd and uses drugs as well as strong profanity.
MARY McCORMACK plays Patrick's sister who wants him to donate sperm so that she and her lesbian lover, played by NIA LONG, can have a child.; JOHN MAHONEY plays the gay owner of a restaurant who acts like a mother hen to all of the younger gay men and encourages them to play on his softball team. He briefly uses some strong profanity.
ANDREW KEEGAN plays a young man who's just starting to come out of the closet and sleeps with both Dennis and Cole.
BILLY PORTER plays a flamboyant gay man who's just been dumped by his boyfriend and uses some profanity.
ZACH BRAFF plays another gay man who begins to hang out with wrong crowd and uses drugs as well as strong profanity.
MARY McCORMACK plays Patrick's sister who wants him to donate sperm so that she and her lesbian lover, played by NIA LONG, can have a child.; ANDREW KEEGAN plays a young man who's just starting to come out of the closet and sleeps with both Dennis and Cole.
BILLY PORTER plays a flamboyant gay man who's just been dumped by his boyfriend and uses some profanity.
ZACH BRAFF plays another gay man who begins to hang out with wrong crowd and uses drugs as well as strong profanity.
MARY McCORMACK plays Patrick's sister who wants him to donate sperm so that she and her lesbian lover, played by NIA LONG, can have a child.; BILLY PORTER plays a flamboyant gay man who's just been dumped by his boyfriend and uses some profanity.
ZACH BRAFF plays another gay man who begins to hang out with wrong crowd and uses drugs as well as strong profanity.
MARY McCORMACK plays Patrick's sister who wants him to donate sperm so that she and her lesbian lover, played by NIA LONG, can have a child.; ZACH BRAFF plays another gay man who begins to hang out with wrong crowd and uses drugs as well as strong profanity.
MARY McCORMACK plays Patrick's sister who wants him to donate sperm so that she and her lesbian lover, played by NIA LONG, can have a child.; MARY McCORMACK plays Patrick's sister who wants him to donate sperm so that she and her lesbian lover, played by NIA LONG, can have a child.

CAST, CREW, & TECHNICAL INFO

HOW OTHERS RATED THIS MOVIE

Curious if this title is entertaining, any good, and/or has any artistic merit?
Then read OUR TAKE of this film.

(Note: The "Our Take" review of this title examines the film's artistic merits and does not take into account any of the possibly objectionable material listed below).

OUR WORD TO PARENTS:

Here's a quick look at the content found in this R-rated romantic comedy. Profanity is rated as extreme due to more than 20 uses of the "f" word, while other expletives and colorful phrases also occur. For those concerned with such matters, nearly every character is gay (the two women are lesbians) and there's related dialogue/language, a few instances of making out and several implied and/or discussed homosexual encounters. One scene involves a gay man preparing to make a sperm donation for his sister and her lesbian lover, but nothing explicit/risqué is seen.

Various characters drink, one smokes pot and is noted as being a marijuana user, while another begins using unidentified drugs (we see one scene of him and others inhaling it and then later see him in the hospital from some sort of overdose or adverse reaction to the drugs). Various characters have varying degrees of bad attitudes, one character dies from having a heart attack (we see him collapse to the ground), and one character punches another character.

Should the preceding summary not answer your questions about the film and its appropriateness for yourself or anyone else in your home who may wish to see it, we suggest that you more closely examine our detailed content listings for specific examples of what occurs in the film.

For those concerned with the presence of repetitive, flashing lights, some strobe-like instances of that occur in a scene set in a club.

ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE: Howie's former boyfriend smokes pot from a pipe, and comments are later made about his pot smoking.
People drink beer and mixed drinks at a party.
Patrick complains that in a world of gay men who are tens and looking for people who are elevens, he's only a six even if others are drunk.
Dennis has a beer.
Dennis mentions the time in the past when his mother caught him smoking pot and only hoped that he didn't pay too much for it.
Various people have drinks in a restaurant.
The same occurs again, where a man with Howie has wine.
Various men drink at a gay club.
Some comments are made about someone taking ecstasy or "K."
Howie, Patrick and Kevin have drinks.
People drink beer at Dennis' house.
Benji's friends think he's started using drugs and we then later see a scene where Benji and other men all take turns inhaling an unknown substance from a small vial. We later see Benji in the hospital from an overdose or adverse reaction to the drugs.
Cole has wine.
Taylor, Patrick, Kevin, Howie and Cole drink shots.
The men have drinks at a going away party.

BLOOD/GORE: None.

DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE: Those who have problems with homosexuality may view the characters as having both due to their sexual orientation.
We learn and then repeatedly see that Cole is a love 'em and leave 'em type guy.
We learn that Taylor's boyfriend had been cheating on him.
Howie is jealous of his ex-boyfriend getting on with his love life.
Cole's bisexual co-star cheats on his wife with Cole (using him just as a sexual plaything, and later stands him up for dinner).

FRIGHTENING SCENES: A man grabs his chest, stumbles and has a heart attack.

GUNS/WEAPONS: Prop guns: Held by Cole and another actor on a movie set.

IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR: Phrases: "F*ck off," "Give me a f*cking break," "Who gives a f*ck?" "F*cker," "Big f*cking deal," "(I) f*cked up," "You ugly f*ck," "I told that bitch to f*ck off," "Bullsh*t," "I'm not really in the mood for your sh*t," "No sh*t," "Full of sh*t," "Holy sh*t," "You scared the sh*t out of me," "You look like sh*t," "I feel like sh*t," "Check this sh*t out," "Screw around" and "Horny" (sexual), "Blow" (oral sex), "Sucks," "Fag," "Nelly" (for an effeminate man), "'Mo" (homosexual), "Breeders" (heterosexuals), "Hag," "Homo say what?" "Load of crap," "Bastards," "What the hell are you doing?" "Why don't you bite me?" and "Why don't you suck my left t*t?"
Jack performs in drag.

JUMP SCENES: None.

MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE): None.

MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE): None.

PROFANITY: At least 22 "f" words (1 used sexually as are the terms "screw," "laid" and "schtupped"), 23 "s" words, 2 slang terms for female genitals ("snatch"), 3 slang terms for breasts ("t*t"), 6 asses (5 used with "hole"), 2 hells, 1 damn, 1 crap, 7 uses of "Oh my God," 3 of "Jesus," 2 of "Jesus Christ" and 1 use of "My God" as exclamations.

SEX/NUDITY: Some of the guys sit around talking about whether any "snatch" was available and one of them states that someone else could "blow him."
As Cole ends a relationship, his jilted partner says that "f*cking somebody isn't casual." He then calls Cole a "bottom boy" and warns him that if word starts getting out about Cole's sexual proclivities, he'll know who started them.
Patrick jokes that Leslie is jealous of Anne's vibrator (not seen). We then briefly see Leslie and Anne kiss.
Howie and his ex-boyfriend state that they're ex-boyfriends who still "screw around."
Dennis makes out with another man at a party.
Anne tells Patrick (her brother) that she and Leslie would like him to father a child for them with Leslie, but that he wouldn't have to sleep with Leslie to do so (they'd use artificial insemination).
At the end of a party, Jack tells Dennis that he (Dennis) is probably only twenty minutes away from his next meaningless sexual experience. Dennis replies that maybe it will only be ten minutes if he's lucky. Later, we then see Dennis and the man he was earlier kissing doing so once again on Dennis' bed (both are fully clothed). Dennis tries to get the mood right, but can't, and then stops. He then states that he's tired of having sex with men who are only interested in how he looks, and that he wants something more.
A hairdresser shows a bit of cleavage.
Some of the guys briefly talk about being horny.
We see Cole making out with Kevin.
When Patrick decides he doesn't want to donate his sperm to Leslie, she states that she knew they should have drugged him and then "jerked him off."
Kevin mentions that his sister knows he's gay and first did so when she caught him "flying solo" (masturbating).
A comment is made about someone who hasn't been "laid" in three months.
Howie's ex-boyfriend asks when he ever expressed physical attraction toward him outside the bedroom. Later, Dennis states that the ex-boyfriend's new boyfriend could have a big penis (as to why the ex-boyfriend is dating him).
Anne and Leslie wonder what's taking Patrick so long in a sperm donation room. He then comes out and states that the provided material (porn featuring women that we don't see) didn't do it for him. Howie then shows up with some male porn (we don't see it) and gives it to Patrick who goes back into his donation room.
Howie's new date is a gay gynecologist who states that most gay men can't say "vagina" let alone stare at it all day. He then mentions the word "clitoris."
The guys debate who they'd kick out of bed from "60 Minutes" and then wonder who's getting "schtupped" by Cole's famous co-actor.
It's implied that Cole and his famous co-actor have been having sex (they're briefly interrupted by a knock on the actor's trailer door while he's shirtless and Cole then hides in another room).
Dennis and Kevin make out and the next morning we see them in bed together (no nudity, no other activity), implying that they had sex.
We learn that Cole and Kevin slept together.

SMOKING: Jack has an unlit cigar in his mouth in one scene, and some miscellaneous characters smoke in other scenes.

TENSE FAMILY SCENES: Dennis mentions that his mother didn't talk to him for a month when he told her that he was gay, and that he's upset that his father died before he knew that truth about him.

TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT: Homosexuality and those who are gay.
Casual sex.
Sperm donation.

VIOLENCE: Some violence is implied on a movie playing on TV where we see a woman appearing to strike someone else (that we don't see).
A man dies from a heart attack (we see him stumble and fall to the ground).
After Howie kisses his ex-boyfriend, that man's new boyfriend pushes and then punches Howie in the face.

Reviewed October 6, 2000 / Posted October 13, 2000

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