The Broken Hearts Club: A Romantic Comedy is a 2000 American romantic comedy-drama film written and directed by Greg Berlanti. 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 friends rely on each other for friendship and support as they search for love, deal with loss, and discover themselves. The Broken Hearts Club was Berlanti's first feature film, based on his circle of friends at the time. 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 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. Plot The film follows the lives of a group of gay friends in West Hollywood. Among the group is Dennis, a photographer who often holds the group together; Cole, a handsome, charismatic actor who — often unwittingly — ends up with other people's boyfriends; Benji, the youngest member of the group who has a penchant for gym-bodied men and who finds himself going through some bad times; Howie, a psychology student who is known for overthinking every situation; Patrick, the cynic of the group; and Taylor, who has just broken up with his long-term boyfriend. Guiding them is restaurant owner Jack, who provides them with advice and jobs for some of them who work part-time as servers at his restaurant. But when tragedy strikes, and the group's newest member, 23-year-old Kevin, attempts to fit in, their friendships are put to the test. Cast Production Development 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. 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. Casting The production was able to secure funding from the studio with the casting of John Mahoney and Timothy Olyphant. Dean Cain took a role against the wishes of his agents, who had cautioned him against a playing a gay character. Billy Porter, who was the least known of the actors cast at the time,