‘The Broken Hearts Gallery’ Movie Review: It’s Art, Man
The Broken Hearts Gallery got a theatrical release in September when theaters toyed with reopening. If you didn’t get a chance to see it then, the movie is on DVD, Blu-ray and digital now. It’s a total feel-good romantic comedy that’s a great vehicle for Geraldine Viswanathan and the standout supporting cast.
Building ‘The Broken Hearts Gallery’
Like the beginning of many romantic comedies, Lucy (Viswanathan) gets dumped by Max (Utkarsh Ambudkar) at the beginning of The Broken Hearts Gallery. On the way home, Lucy mistakes Nick (Dacre Montgomery)’s car for a Lyft. They keep running into each other in New York.
Lucy just adds some mementos from Max to her collection of keepsakes from all her past relationships. In one of her encounters with Nick, at the hotel he’s renovating, he encourages Lucy to leave some of her mementoes behind. When she jokingly hangs a tie on the wall and calls it the Broken Hearts Gallery, other people start leaving their mementos too.
‘The Broken Hearts Gallery’ has a relevant message
Lucy’s habit leads to a clever premise for a romantic comedy. How nice that this rom-com is based on Nick and Lucy helping each other with their businesses, rather than contrived schemes. Lucy isn’t charging anything for the gallery, but it is focusing her on the path towards her career goal in the art world.
However, Lucy’s habit and her gallery speak to a relevant theme. Sentimentality is valid, but holding onto bad relationships is something else. There’s collecting and then there’s hoarding. The Broken Hearts Gallery is about finding a healthy place for collections and memories while making room for new ones.
As the Broken Hearts Gallery grows, more people seek the closure of donating their mementos, and Lucy gains the experience of opening up to others. It becomes the best kind of success, the kind that occurs naturally. Lucy’s little niche endeavor organically gains publicity which attracts new donors symbiotically.
A cast of real characters
Viswanathan is a rom-com lead. She’s an endearing mess but she doesn’t sugar coat it. Lucy is self-destructive, but she can be funny about it and remain funny while she learns. Montgomery is great as the guy with a plan for whom Lucy causes chaos, but it’s the good kind of chaos and he’s not villainized for being driven.
Lucy also has two roommates, Amanda (Molly Gordon) and Nadine (Phillipa Soo). Together they are an endearing trio. They have their banter but also individual personalities.
Writer/director Natalie Krinsky fills The Broken Hearts Gallery with one-off stories of tragic humor and/or genuine heart, sometimes both simultaneously. All the while, she serves her lead and supporting characters with satisfying arcs in a feel-good romance with plenty of laughs.
