The Broken Hearts Gallery: Film Review
I love a romcom and I’m a big fan of Geraldine Viswanathan so The Broken Hearts Gallery was right up my street.
She plays Lucy, an art gallery assistant who is considered a hoarder by many because she collects souvenirs to remember events and past relationships, although they look like useless clutter to everybody else. One night, she is fired from her job and dumped by Max (Utkarsh Ambudkar), and she accidentally gets into Nick (Dacre Montgomery)’s car, drunkenly mistaking it for her Uber, and the encounter launches their friendship. Lucy helps him complete work on his new boutique hotel and in exchange he offers her space to make a pop-up gallery of her mementoes.
Viswanathan, who won me over with her hilarious performance in 2018’s Blockers, is the best thing about this movie. Writer/director Natalie Krinsky has created a realistic sex-positive, alcohol-drinking messy lead who makes mistakes and Viswanathan injected so much life into the role. She elevates simple lines or scenes with her unique personality, quirks, mannerisms, and line delivery, and makes the film funnier than it is on the page by putting her distinct stamp on the character. Her energy and enthusiasm really sell the movie and will likely make viewers laugh and smile.
Lucy’s housemates and best friends, Amanda (Molly Gordon) and Nadine (Phillipa Soo), also provide great support. Amanda is dark, pessimistic, obsessed with death and has a silent boyfriend named Jeff (Nathan Dales), while Nadine is a gorgeous heartbreaker who has been with “more Russian supermodels than a tech billionaire”. I loved this trio and some of their conversations were so well-written and hilarious. Montgomery is best known for playing the douchey Billy in Stranger Things so it was refreshing to see him play a nice guy. He didn’t have as much personality as the girls but he had the brooding look that makes him perfect as a romcom lead.
Most romcoms are predictable as hell and The Broken Hearts Gallery is no different. Krinsky tries hard to make this not cheesy and she does well until the ending. But she deserves praise for her superb writing and character creation as well as the subplot about Lucy’s mother, which makes this film feel less fluffy and lightweight. She has also assembled a top diverse cast and picked some great music, like Little Mix’s Woman Like Me and Ava Max’s Sweet But Psycho.
I came out of The Broken Hearts Gallery in a great mood and with a big smile on my face. It’s so uplifting and heartwarming!
In cinemas Friday 11th September