26-year-old Lucy is an art gallery assistant who happens to be an emotional hoarder who keeps a souvenir from very relationship she's been in and every place she goes. The Broken Hearts Gallery follows Lucy's journey through New York City.
Related Titles : Booksmart, Blockers, What If?,
The Broken Hearts Gallery was a film where I had no expectations, there weren't any trailers or promotional campaign online and I really think that is such a shame because omg it was amazing. Rom-com as a genre is really saturated and difficult to be unique and different but this movie was able to stand out from the pack in so many areas. My favourite element of Broken Hearts was how there was so much representation, and good positive representation as well. Director and writer Natalie Krinsky does a fantastic job of introducing character Lucy who is the main character. She is a 26 year old, working at a fancy gallery who has aspirations of putting on her own exhibition, she also hasn't been so successful with her love life as she has a small problem with taking and keeping little trinkets from guys she dates. Lucy then gets fired from her job at the gallery and mistakenly and drunkenly gets into what she thinks is her uber but it is in fact a guy called Nick's car. Nick happens to be starting a hotel, which is still a building site, Lucy, now unemployed, proposes to start the Broken Hearts Gallery where people can bring all the items they have held on to from past relationship. These items would then make up the exhibition, with an explanation of the importance of the item.
The chemistry and likability of the characters were a big part of why this film was so lovable. Lucy lived with her two best friends Amanda and Nadine in their New York apartment. They provided the best support system when Lucy was heartbroken and their dialogue interlinking was really witty and believable. All three actresses you may not recognise straight away but they all have some phenomenal movies that they've starred in and they really do a great job in this picture. One of my favourite scenes was when the girls were all singing karaoke and I could just imagine me and my friends literally doing the same thing, shit-faced and singing out of tune but just having the best time, it translated across the screen well.
Dacre Montgomery played Nick, and I loved the character and also thought he did such a brilliant job. Nick was kind and soft, so likeable, and also had substance as well. I really don't want Dacre Montgomery to be be compared as the Australian Zac Efron but the resemblance is there. The relationship between Nick and Lucy was a slow burn but in the best possible way. The way that they started off as friends and they slowly got to know each other and opened up a little more each time. They had an amazing connection and flowed very well together.
Selena Gomez is really getting involved with another project as executive producer, it seems like everything she is involved with turns to gold. On the whole, I do feel like it's a shame that Broken Hearts didn't reach the audience that it deserves to have had. It has the great love story but also so much more as well. It's funny and entertaining, it is just a brilliant feel-good film. I couldn't recommend this movie enough. Please check it out and enjoy!
Rating: 9/10
By Leanne
Romantic comedies are lowkey one of my favourite genres. As a teen, these were the films that pretty much started my obsession with collecting DVDs and watching films at the rate I do. As for being released at the cinema, rom-coms are far and few between these days, usually being pushed straight to streaming services. When they do come to the cinema they have been a bit average, quite forgettable in most cases. So when I heard that The Broken Hearts Gallery was coming I was interested but didn't have high hopes. I am overjoyed to say that it exceeded all my expectations.
The films focuses on Lucy (Geraldine Viswanathan) who has moved to New York with hopes of opening her own art exhibition. She has a habit of keeping trinkets and reminders of everyone she had ever dated and everywhere she has ever been. This habit is eventually revealed to have a meaning behind it which connects back to her mother. Lucy is a well fleshed out character who felt very relatable. When she meets unexpectedly meets the lovable Nick (Dacre Montgomery) her life is flipped upside down and she ends up staging her own exhibition all about Broken Hearts in his hotel, while falling in love with him along the way. The plot is often cliche but is well fleshed out.
All of the characters are great and feel very real and well written. There is also great representation throughout the film with many characters being LGBT and PoC without it being a major reveal or plot point. I also really appreciated the costume design, on more than one occasion, I spotted characters wearing the same outfit or repeating parts of an outfit. This is something that isn't often seen in films but is the norm` to see in real life! The cast is jampacked with amazing upcoming stars. Geraldine Viswanathan known for her roles in Bad Education and 2018s Blockers, is a perfect cast as Lucy as she delivers the comedy perfectly and is able to hold each scene. Her onscreen friendships with Molly Gordon (Booksmart) and Phillipa Soo (of Hamilton fame!) is one of the absolute highlights of the film. Their friendship feels incredibly real, and like Rebecca said, the karaoke scene feels perfectly real and could honestly have been filmed on a night out with my pals! Dacre Montgomery (Stranger Things) plays love interest Nick and is incredibly charming and I found myself really rooting for him to win Lucy's heart. This cast is full of people to watch who have already got a great set of TV shows and films under their belts but I'm sure are going to go on to do even more fantastic things.
The script is fantastic, it's full of so many quick witted quips and short, sharp lines. Not only the conversations between Lucy and her friends and flatmates Amanda (Molly Gordon) and Nadine (Phillipa Soo) but the exchanges between other secondary characters like Nick's best friend Marcos are absolutely hilarious. I saw this film twice in the cinema with two different groups of people and laughed out loud so many times in both visits. There are call backs to films like The Notebook, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Sigourney Weaver in Working Gril and plenty of other references to catch. I especially loved the shout out to this idea that all adults are winging it all the time, when Lucy questioned 'who gave her a credit card and how do I cancel a gym membership?'
Another final thing that ties this film together is the soundtrack. I'm not going to go into the track list because I could honestly list all of them as being an excellent choice and bringing something to the film. Instead you can check out the list here and see that each one is excellent!
It of course follows all the classic tropes of a good romcom, a hidden secret between them that solved someone's problem, the sudden reappearance of an ex and then it all ties together with a ridiculous grand gesture of their love at the end. But honestly, this film is a breath of fresh air for romcoms and I hope that it's going to usher in a new age of romcoms for the 21st century. It perfectly balanced the presence and need for phones and tech without bombarding the screen and has great realistic characters. Definitely one to add to the list for your next girls night in!
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