The Broken Hearts Club

For a gay movie that purports to be about real people--as opposed to melodramatic stereotypes or comedy caricatures--The Broken Hearts Club comes across as pretty contrived. Not only do the ensemble players include such stock West Hollywood characters as the bimbo hunk and the queeny cry baby with a jones for redecorating, but these clichés are introduced immediately following a coffee shop gripe session scene about how gays are portrayed in the movies. Besides being hypocritical, the picture has it's fair share of nagging script deficiencies and bad technical calls (intrusive overuse of hand-held cameras). Still, rookie writer-director Greg Berlanti gets good mileage out of his knack for witty roundtables of Sex in the City-style dialogue and a cast full of likable actors--including Timothy Olyphant (Go), John Mahoney (Frasier's dad) and Dean Cain (TV's Superman)--starring as a group of gay friends who play softball together and lament about their love lives. A strong, optional purchase. (R. Blackwelder)