The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on January 29, 2000.
The movie was filmed in Los Angeles and West Hollywood, while restaurant exteriors and interiors were shot in Long Beach. Jennifer Coolidge was cast as the hairdresser Betty, to whom all the guys, with the exception of Howie, go for hair therapy.įilming began in October 1999 and took place over the course of thirteen days on a $1 million budget.
It features a cameo from Kerr Smith, who knew Berlanti as the showrunner on Dawson's Creek and enjoyed the script so much he asked to be a part of the film. The film also stars Nia Long, Mary McCormack and Justin Theroux. Billy Porter, who was the least known of the actors cast at the time, won the role of Taylor when he " the character with heart and something real" in his audition.
Dean Cain took a role against the wishes of his agents, who had cautioned him against a playing a gay character. The production was able to secure funding from the studio with the casting of John Mahoney and Timothy Olyphant. 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. 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. But when tragedy strikes, and the group's newest member, 23-year-old Kevin ( Andrew Keegan), attempts to fit in, their friendships are put to the test. Guiding them is restaurant owner Jack ( John Mahoney) who provides them with advice and jobs for some of them who work part-time as servers at his restaurant. Among the group is Dennis ( Timothy Olyphant), a photographer who often holds the group together Cole ( Dean Cain) a handsome, charismatic actor who - often unwittingly - ends up with other people's boyfriends Benji ( Zach Braff), the youngest member of the group, with a penchant for gym-bodied men, who finds himself going through some bad times Howie ( Matt McGrath), a psychology student who is known for overthinking every situation Patrick ( Ben Weber), the cynic of the group and Taylor ( Billy Porter), who has just broken up with his long-term boyfriend. The film follows the lives of a group of gay friends in West Hollywood.
The film focuses on "the universal themes of romance, acceptance and family", as opposed to AIDS, coming out, and sex, which are more controversial and stereotypical topics commonly covered in LGBT films. The movie was met with generally favorable reviews from critics, receiving praise for portraying homosexuality as normal and its characters as average gay men. The Broken Hearts Club was Berlanti's first feature film, based on his circle of friends at the time. The friends rely on each other for friendship and support as they search for love, deal with loss, and discover themselves. It follows the lives of a group of gay friends in West Hollywood, centered on a restaurant owned by the fatherly Jack ( John Mahoney) and the softball team he sponsors. The Broken Hearts Club: A Romantic Comedy is a 2000 American romantic comedy-drama film written and directed by Greg Berlanti.