PLEASE NOTE: Michael D's is currently in READ ONLY MODE. Anything submitted will simply not be written to the database.
Lots of stuff is still broken, but at least reviews can now be looked up and read.
PLEASE NOTE: Michael D's is currently in READ ONLY MODE. Anything submitted will simply not be written to the database.
Lots of stuff is still broken, but at least reviews can now be looked up and read.
Broken Hearts Club, The: A Romantic Comedy (2000)

Broken Hearts Club, The: A Romantic Comedy (2000)

If you create a user account, you can add your own review of this DVD

Released 3-Oct-2001

Cover Art

This review is sponsored by
BUY IT

Details At A Glance

General Extras
Category Drama Dolby Digital Trailer-City
Theatrical Trailer
Trailer-Futuresport
Deleted Scenes-7 +/- commentary
Biographies-Cast & Crew
Audio Commentary-Greg Berlani (Director) & Mickey Liddell (Producer)
Rating Rated M
Year Of Production 2000
Running Time 91:24
RSDL / Flipper No/No Cast & Crew
Start Up Menu
Region Coding 2,4 Directed By Greg Berlanti
Studio
Distributor

Sony Pictures Home Entertain
Starring Zach Braff
Dean Cain
Andrew Keegan
Nia Long
Mary McCormack
Matt McGrath
Timothy Olyphant
Billy Porter
Justin Theroux
Ben Weber
John Mahoney
Case Soft Brackley-Transp
RPI $36.95 Music Christophe Beck


Video Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame None English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s)
German Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s)
English Audio Commentary Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio 2.35:1
16x9 Enhancement
16x9 Enhanced
Video Format 576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio 2.35:1 Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures No
Subtitles English
German
Dutch
Arabic
Bulgarian
Czech
Danish
Finnish
Greek
Hebrew
Hindi
Hungarian
Icelandic
Norwegian
Polish
Swedish
Turkish
German Audio Commentary
Dutch Audio Commentary
Smoking No
Annoying Product Placement No
Action In or After Credits No

NOTE: The Profanity Filter is ON. Turn it off here.

Plot Synopsis

     Broken Hearts Club is just a fun movie. True, its setting is sub-culturally specific, but that sub-culture is late 90s gay California! (That's a good thing.) What makes Broken Hearts Club succeed is the skilful way the movie is written, directed, and acted. There's a healthy range of realistic gay relationships on display here. I can confirm this because I've lived through half of these situations, and know friends who've been through the other half. In a refreshing approach to the gay film genre, this movie does not centre on AIDS. In fact, I'm struggling to remember more than a line or two that even mentions it in passing. Broken Hearts Club is about life, friendships, and family.

     There are wonderful scenes where the characters make self-referential comparisons to early 80s prime time soap operas and movies. The early 80s would have been a pivotal time for the characters in this film. Glorified and magnified through the combined emotional lenses of puberty and coming out, how could any self-respecting gay man avoid the occasional pop cultural reference to that time in his life? Of particular note is the reference to the characters in Steel Magnolias. It's so dead-on accurate that I'm willing to bet my Region 2 Queer as Folk DVD that the writer, Greg Berlanti, called his first draft "Steel Pansies". Note the similarities: a group of friends who've known each other for years; a common workplace that doubles as a social gathering location; one awkward "newbie"; brief attention paid to each character's current life stage and/or emotional state; and one or two scenarios that provide a reason to bring all the storylines together.

     Broken Hearts Club can be strongly recommended to anyone in the mood for a good time regardless of sexual orientation. There is a laugh of recognition around every corner for gay men and women, and, if straight men and women can look past the numerous pop cultural references peppered throughout the dialogue, they may find their relationships do not differ from homosexual relationships as much as they might think. If all this fails to convince you, maybe the fact that you get a look at John Mahoney (the father from Frasier) in bad drag will convince you to take a look.

Don't wish to see plot synopses in the future? Change your configuration.

Transfer Quality

Video

     This transfer is presented in an aspect ratio of 2.35:1, and is 16x9 enhanced. The overall quality of the transfer is fantastic, but not quite of reference quality.

    The sharpness of this movie is variable. A good rule of thumb is that when the shot is hand-held, it tends to have a softer focus. When it's a fixed shot, the focus is sharper. The difference is not sufficiently noticeable unless you are looking for it. The title card inserts, presented in a particularly small font, are nice and sharp. There aren't a lot of opportunities to observe shadow detail, but the darkroom scenes handled this nicely. Noise was only observed in the night club scene (102:20). It was not distracting

     Colour appears accurately presented here. It's handled nicely, with skin tones looking natural, and Hawaiian shirts looking bright without bleeding. The darkroom scenes, lit in a nice shade of red, still appear clear.

     A slight level of edge enhancement was present throughout the film. I'm particularly sensitive to edge enhancement, but I'd have to say that this DVD is a good example of the proper level of edge enhancement if it has to be applied at all. This artefact was never distracting. Absolutely no telecine wobble was spotted. This is exceptional considering this film includes multiple instances of title inserts that could have caused some horrible artefacting if not handled right. One example of aliasing was spotted on a catcher's mask at 36:05.

     The subtitles are presented in a visually pleasing font. Both German and English subtitles are included on the DVD. The English subtitles appeared accurate and  loyal to the script.

     This is a single sided, single layered disc with no layer change.

Video Ratings Summary
Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

     This is a very good audio transfer, and generally supports the film quite nicely.

     There are two audio tracks. The default is an English Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack. The other is a German Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack. I listened predominantly to the English audio track as well as sampling the German audio track briefly. Both language tracks appeared to handle the music, dialogue and Foley sound in a similar fashion.

     The dialogue was clear and easy to understand at all times. Particularly noticeable was the clarity of the dialogue during several party scenes where the surrounds came alive with background voices.

     No audio sync problems were observed.

     The music score, which included a large amount of music written by The Carpenters, but performed by other talent, supported the film very well. Christopher Beck's additional music is also pleasing. Surrounds characteristically came alive whenever the music swelled.

     The surround presence was very balanced for a film that depends primarily on dialogue. Most outdoor and party scenes used the rear speakers subtly and unobtrusively. One specific sound fault seems to be present in the source material. At 34:55, during a baseball game, a loud crack can be heard out of the left rear speaker. Apparently, it's supposed to indicate off-screen action occurring during the ball game as someone hits the ball. It's quite jarring and distracting, and initially seemed to be a problem with the speaker. However, I found the sound present on both my Region 1 and this Region 4 version of the DVD.

    Use of the subwoofer was unobtrusive.

Audio Ratings Summary
Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Extras

     The DVD packaging sells the fact that this is a "Collector's Edition". While there are a few interesting extras here, I'm convinced that DVD manufacturers throw this term around rather freely.

Menu

    A still image that is not 16x9 enhanced. No accompanying audio.

Theatrical Trailer

    This is of average quality, being presented in full frame, non-anamorphic with Dolby 2.0 surround-encoded sound.

Futuresport Trailer

    Trailer for another movie starring Dean Cain. Same quality, aspect, and sound stats as the Theatrical Trailer.

Deleted Scenes

     All deleted scenes were presented in an aspect ratio of 2.35:1, non-anamorphic with Dolby 2.0 surround-encoded sound. The video quality of all of the deleted scenes was extremely poor, with multiple artefacts present at all times. The last deleted scene, "Patrick & Leslie", was of exceptionally poor video quality.

Director & Producer's Commentary - Greg Berlanti (Director) & Mickey Liddell (Producer)

    This commentary features Greg Berlanti & Mickey Liddell across the front soundstage speaking over the film's Dolby Digital 2.0 surround-encoded soundtrack. Thankfully, this commentary doesn't fall into the trap of resorting to a play-by-play description of what is happening on the screen. Overall, it consists of a few over-generous comments about the actors peppered with interesting observations on the crew dynamics and challenges of particular scenes.

R4 vs R1

NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.

     The Region 4 version of this disc misses out on;

     The Region 1 version of this disc misses out on;

     None of these differences in features warrant the recommendation of one version over the other. However, the small font used in the black and white inserts throughout the film really show up the differences in the quality of the transfers here. I can honestly say that the Region 4 transfer wins hands down. The two transfers differ so dramatically that I have a hard time believing it can only be due to the additional resolution of PAL. The NTSC transfer really drops the ball when it comes to quality.

Summary

     Broken Hearts Club was, for me, a funny, cross-cultural comedy that struck just the right note.

     The video quality was surprisingly good, and most definitely above average.

     The audio quality supports the film nicely, with clear dialogue.

     The extras were interesting, and added value, but were a bit sparse.

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

© Jeff Montgomery (Bio)
Wednesday, October 17, 2001
Review Equipment
DVDSony DVP-C670P, using Component output
DisplaySony VPL-VW10HT LCD Projector, displayed on a flat white wall. Calibrated with AVIA Guide To Home Theatre. This display device is 16x9 capable.
Audio DecoderBuilt in to amplifier/receiver. Calibrated with AVIA Guide To Home Theatre.
AmplificationSony STR DE-845
SpeakersFront - Teac LS-S1000F, Centre - Teac LS-C1000, Rears -Teac LS S1000R, Subwoofer - Teac LS-W1000 (passive)

Other Reviews
DVD Net - Martin F (read my bio)