20th Anniversary Of "The Broken Hearts Club"

I kind of loved this movie...I liked Zach Braff the most.

Former actor and Trump supporter Dean Cain was in it.

That was a very sweet movie when it came out. I used to own a DVD (yes, one of those)

Dean must have appeared in this before he became a Christian

Does Andrew Keegan still have that cult?

Gay softball teams NEVER look like this in real life...unfortunately. Still, nice to have a fluffy little romcom of our own, to turn your brain off and escape for a while...

Timothy is still hot and Dean looks like shit. And Billy Porter has emerged the most successful out of all of them. Time flies.

This is one of two movies where Dean Cain was gay - the other being Best Men

I loved this movie, still have the original DVD. Justin Theroux was so fucking cute and heartwarming.

I watch this every now and then.

Today I watched "Billy's Hollywood Screen Kiss", another gay-themed movie from this era.

LOVE THAT FILM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Met cast Olyphant, Braff and Cain at screening of BHC. All were sweethearts but Cain went out of his way to sign and pose with fans most of which were gay men. He was just coming off Lois & Clark and was trying to expand his career. Andrew Keegan was a standoffish arse hole spent the Q & A giggling with Bergin.

love the scene with Cain and Bergin

Don't forget the lesbians in the movie played by Nia Long and Mary McCormick

Loved this movie. Felt proud to be gay watching it and proud to have a bunch of gay men as friends.

Absolutely loved this film.

As a teenager it was the first gay film I saw which wasn't super depressing, people were happy with themselves and everyone didn't die at the end. (Okay one person died but of a heart attack and he was old and it all seemed so mundane that it was a nice change.)

It gave me hope that when I got older & left my small town I could find a group of gay friends and be happy.

[quote] It gave me hope that when I got older & left my small town I could find a group of gay friends and be happy.

Well did you? Find a group of gay friends and be happy?

funny how Keegan's character was found out to be gay by his sister after getting caught jacking it to an article on Antonio Sabato Jr

Didn’t this film star Timothy Olyphant’s original teefs?

I was on a gay softball team for years. My teammates were actually pretty hot. I always felt like the “ugly” one in the movie with curly hair. It was pretty incestuous and really not that far off from the movie. Only difference...we were good at softball.

^^^ did you have a Purple Guy?

This was the first gay film I ever say in theaters. It was playing in a rundown old theater downtown in my hometown. I seem to recall that I heard about it because it got a write up in the local paper and was causing a bit of controversy that a gay film was being played in town. My best friend, the only person I was out to at the time, went and saw it with me we cut class I was in the 12th grade I think. I remember loving it, but honestly I haven't seen it in years and not sure how I would feel now.

I hooked up with one of the stars of the film...

I liked this movie! Too bad Dean Cain became a freak in real life, but oh well, nobody saw that coming back then.

It is a lovely film. That article made me cry.

Great retrospective interviews, though it would have been great to get quotes from Olyphant, Cain, Braff and Keegan. I'm surprised to read that Matt McGrath is out. I seem to recall him still claiming to be straight long after the movie came out. Lovely tribute to John Mahoney too.

"Howie" (McGrath) was my least favorite character. All he did was walk around and whine.

It was kind of difficult buying Cain as a gay man. It just didn't seem to work.

This movie always seemed like an updated "Boys in the Band" to me, only less dramatic.

A movie from an era when the carpet was rolled out for white gay boys to make it in the industry (Williams, Horta, Berlanti, August, etc.). Now you have to be an exotic non white tranny to get staffed or hired. Or a white girl passing herself as a persecuted minority because of gender. The industry is ridiculous now. Glad it’s imploding.

To be fair, Dean Cain has continued to express support for gay community. I remember when he spoke at some conservative event he made a big point of saying he remains a supporter (even if his actions say otherwise). He’s still despicable regardless. He was really good in this role, however.

Did Berlanti discuss with Cain about reprising his Superman role in last year’s Crisis Of Infinite Earths storyline on the CW shows?

Dean's put on so much weight, he couldn't have played Superman in last year's Crisis. Would have had to play a fat bystander, like Burt Ward did. Burt has put on a lot of extra padding since his Robin days.

Loved the Broken Hearts Club when it first came out in 2000. Rewatched it about 5 years ago, it still hold up. Still hits the emotional notes well.

loved the lesbian couple (Nia Long & Mary McCormick)

Did Dean Cain kiss a man or do a live scene, or appear nude?

It’s a piece of shit, like the rest of Berlanti’s work.

R28 has a persecution complex and is obsessed with identity politics.

[quote] Dean's put on so much weight, he couldn't have played Superman in last year's Crisis.

However, he could have played Jor-El as Brando set the standard from going from hot to not.

I really enjoyed the movie. I particularly enjoyed both Timothy and John‘s performances. I love the whole scene with Timothée and sweater guy. Although I wish he had gotten more clothes off of him before the season ended. That guy was hot too. I have a copy of it so I can view it whenever I’m feeling a little down. That’s helpful in a time where getting haircut therapy is not as safe.

This remains one of my favorite movies.

Cain balked at a full on mouth kiss with Kegan. They cheated by filming it from behind over Kegan's shoulder. Of course Oliphant being a real actor went for a full lip lock.

You people have horrible taste.

I must admit I found Dean Cain hot as fuck back in the 1990s. He also had an easygoing personality which made him more likeable. Being a staunch Republican would be acceptable under normal circumstances, but in today's world being a Trump supporter would mean more than tribal allegiance, you have a serious distorted view of humanity.

I'm still waiting for the special "Director's Cut."

MEANWHILE...

I went to see this with a group friends and we were waiting in the cafe area when a guy my friend had been on a date with two weeks previously came in by himself. The guy had committed the cardinal sin of telling him he didn't want a second date as he wouldn't date a smoker, and to be honest my friend did stink of fags and i once got a brown finger tip running my finger across his tv screen. Feeling nostalgic now for the days when I'd go out clubbing and have to wash my hair when I got home because it stank of cigarette smoke.

Anyway, went into the film and there was some bitchy whispering about the guy that was very obvious which really embarrassed me, so I messaged him on Gaydar to apologise and asked if he enjoyed the film. We ended up dating for 3 months until we fell out over a jacket he wanted to spend £400 on and I said it was ugly and a waste of money. I lost touch with the smoking friend but he ended up with a collapsed lung at the age of 31, quit smoking and put on 60lb.

I've not seen it in years but I still don't know what drugs Zack Braff took in the toilets.

Dean Cain's AND I AM NOT A BOTTOM scene was the most memorable scene.

It looked lonely back in 1999.

Still does.

R28 Silvio Horta is white? I thought he was Cuban?

Well race doesn't matter anymore, he's dead.

Yeah BHC, Latter Days, Billy's Hollywood Screen Kiss, Longtime Companion were very white. At least Trick had the very hot J.P Pitoc who is obviously of Latino origin.

I guess the pendulum swung so far on one side of the spectrum now it's crashing down and flying to the other side.

Longtime companion is not about race. Stop making everything about race.

R4/R8/R12 the 180 that Cain did is incredible, and difficult to understand.

Luckily he lost his looks and his charm, so st least we got him during his best years.

I was usually a sucker for this sort of film, but I found it resistible. I didn't find the characters likeable or relatable, by and large; there was the black character who both was and wasn't part of the group; I couldn't for the life of me understand why the new guy, after being completely fucked over by two of the group, still hung around.

They don’t mention the other “Cain” who appears in this - hot as fuck actor Christian Kane, who plays a coked out gym rat.

I remember some hating this movie because it did take alot of "gays' greatest hits" and throw it all into one movie.

But I enjoyed it and it was nice to see a film about gay men

[quote] I've not seen it in years but I still don't know what drugs Zack Braff took in the toilets.

Braff's character's 'drug abuse problem' was the most low-key one I've ever seen on film. Blink and you'll miss him go ham with it, and won't understand the catty whispers the other characters about it. It's barely even a 'problem', as he bounces back instantly and the danger of the situation instantly dissipates. I get that this movie was light, feel-good romcom about friendship and coming-of-age so we didn't need or want to see a frightening gangbang on tina, but at least commit if you're going to show a young gay man getting into shit.

The character's attire and other interests were perhaps meant to clue us in to his tight-rope walk over the seedier side of gay culture, but again that is an easy cue to miss as that 'Raver' style was in with all kinds of people back in the 90s-early 00s. This doesn't seem like the right movie for that type of character arc, in retrospect; a straight-edge clubkid would have been a much more interesting and apt choice.

And while I can buy Zack playing gay, I didn't think he suited the archetype he was given - the role of the young sweet innocent punky partytwink with the dark fixation calls for someone with more depth and chops than Braff could offer back then (not his fault, he was just starting our and hadn't got the experience yet).

Just found out Christophe Beck composed original music for TBHC. I wouldn't have guessed that.

His Emmy-winning work on BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER scored my childhood. 'Loneliness of Six' (from the eight episode of season Three, 'Lover's Walk') is one of my all-time favorite television soundtrack cues.

This and Billy's Hollywood Screen Kiss were my first gay movies I watched and I found them both so depressing. A couple of years back I retwatched Billy's Hollywood Screen Kiss and appreciated it more. The Broken Hearts Club on the other hand I couldn't even finish. I just hated all the characters except John Mahoney's quirky character. And that's coming from someone who likes both the original The Boys In the Band and Ryan Murphy's remake. I can't imagine ever wanting to watch The Broken Hearts Club now with Dean Cain being a Deplorable.

[quote] His Emmy-winning work on BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER scored my childhood.

You were a kid when Buffy was on the air? Jeez I feel old.

R55 haha yep! Sorry to say I was 4 years old when it started, and 10 when it ended. I came in initially toward the end of the show-run, and caught much of the rest in re-runs, as obviously I was way too young to watch the earlier seasons as they first aired.

FWIW, Oz was favourite, and I was (and probably still am) the only Oz/Tara shipper to ever exist. Also think Riley got a really bad rap, Harmony was a Queen, Faith was cooler and a better Slayer than Buffy, and that Angel & Buffy should have been together. Controversially I hated Willow - she was a covertly-abusive straight-leaning bisexual who didn't give a shit about saving the world or protecting her friends, change my mind.

Wait, what were we talking about?

I liked it a lot, but I'll never watch it again. Dean Cain should have died in a grease fire long before he started kissing Trump's ass.

[Quote] Did Berlanti discuss with Cain about reprising his Superman role in last year’s Crisis Of Infinite Earths storyline on the CW shows?

Over Brandon Routh's dead body.

[Quote] Sorry to say I was 4 years old when it started, and 10 when it ended. I came in initially toward the end of the show-run, and caught much of the rest in re-runs, as obviously I was way too young to watch the earlier seasons as they first aired. FWIW, Oz was favourite, and I was (and probably still am) the only Oz/Tara shipper to ever exist. Also think Riley got a really bad rap, Harmony was a Queen, Faith was cooler and a better Slayer than Buffy, and that Angel & Buffy should have been together.

I was 7 when the show started. I love Oz and wish he'd ended up on Angel. I agree you with about Riley. I find it ridiculous that so many find him to be the worst bf Buffy ever had. Bangel should have been endgame.

Stop it! You all are making me feel ancient!

Broken Hearts Club is a cute little film that I think has been lost in the lexicon of contemporary gay cinema. The article is great and kind of interesting to read about the ups and down of trying to get the film released. It's sad that 20 minutes of the film was cute in order to reach the Sony's requirement of a 90 minute run time, and I find it interesting that Sony got cold feet and pushed the films distribution off to Sony Classics which is just a tiny art house distributor (they also distributed Call Me By Your Name).

It's kind of sad that in 20 years, there really hasn't been many gay ensemble movies.

One of the problems for its longevity is it doesn’t have a queer cast. Nowadays, people are sick of straights playing gays

R61 On television, more openly gay actors are playing gay roles but not so much in film. Call Me By Your Name, Love, Simon both recent films that had straight men playing gay characters were both box office successes. I don't buy the argument that gay parts should only be played by gay actors. It's career limiting because you're effectively saying that only straight actors should play straight roles, which means gay actors would never work.

I remember The Broken Hearts Club. It was one of the first gay films I ever say...technically Birdcage was the first gay film I saw.

Broken Hearts was part of a renaissance of gay comedy film during the later-half of the 1990s, most of which are forgotten now. Films like: I Think I Do (which was Tuc Watkins' first credited film role), Kiss Me Guido (which was briefly spun-off into a TV sitcom starting Jason Bateman), In & Out, Billy's Hollywood Screen Kiss, Edge of Seventeen, etc. They were a move away from the dramatic (mostly AIDS driven) narratives of the late 80s and early 90s. Most of these films were "lost" after the release of Brokeback Mountain and when gay films started to be viewed as Oscar bait.

Watched TBHC again last night. Timothy Olyphant was really great in this....and beautiful.

IIRC several critics at the time said Olyphant seemed 'too straight', and like he was playing a flimsy clumsy caricature of a gay man.

I disagree, I thought his portrayal was fairly accurate, and he reminded me of young gay men I've known IRL in the past. Not sure why his performance didn't click for some people.

So much in this film resonated with me and my own experience. Except I never got the whole Carpenters thing. NO one I know centers the Carpenters like Olyphant's character did.

This didn’t have any impact on me at the time. I always think of it when I see Dean Cain’s name and think, “huh?”

Loved this movie and had many many wanks over the idea of Dean Cain fucking Andrew Keegan.

This and Jeffrey are my two favorite gay movies.

R68 the fantasy of Dean fucking Timothy was way hotter. They had a more than a frisson of sexual chemistry.

My favourite exchange in the whole film is when Cole leaves for his Hollywood break and says goodbye to Dennis.

D:" They never still hate you..." C: "Yeah....s'funny, isn' t it? *I'd* hate me."