The Broken Hearts Gallery
After a break-up, a young woman decides to start a gallery where people can leave trinkets from past relationships.
Cast
Geraldine Viswanathan – Lucy Gulliver
Dacre Montgomery – Nick Danielson
Molly Gordon – Amanda
Utkarsh Ambudkar – Max
Phillipa Soo – Nadine
Arturo Castro – Marcos
Bernadette Peters – Eva
Suki Waterhouse – Chloe
It was fresh ‘first lockdown lift’ when I went to see this movie. Caught in limbo of “should I, shouldn’t I” when wanting to do something as simple as a food shop.
Wanting to dine out at a local restaurant but top of the menu for me was wondering if they had enough hand sanitiser to go round.
A deep yearning to jump on a plane and go somewhere for a much-needed trip, but knowing I literally wasn’t allowed.
And all these feelings happening in very public places that were void of any human interaction, such as the cinema. I needed a laugh, to engross myself in something different.
Thank god for The Broken Hearts Gallery.
As C-list a movie as it may seem, this City tale of a young woman creating an ‘art’ gallery for memoirs of people’s past relationships is sweet, and very watchable. But the best thing about it is the person who leads it.
Geraldine Viswanathan has to be the most charismatic performer I’ve seen in years. She carries this movie with such adorablility that it was genuinely hard to not like her character. Her innocent facial expressions and impeccable comic timing are so precious, it was almost like following a wide-eyed ditsy Disney character. She’s a treat.
The bad points?
The plot itself is slightly bland; girl creates a museum where people display items belonging to – or that remind them of / their ex-partners. And her determination to fund the museum and keep it running. It really isn’t the most enthralling concept, and sadly is one of those very watchable-very forgettable movies.
It is also extremely predictable when the story shifts to a potential love interest for the protagonist. Just sitting there in the cinema dunking my biscuit in my latte, I knew for a fact within the first twenty minutes who would end up with who and what would become of Lucy’s business venture.
If you need something to perk you up and you’re a fan of rom-com, definitely select The Broken Hearts Gallery. Its simple but warming screenplay is complemented by a gorgeously fluid backdrop of New York and rustic loft apartments. And whereas many films set in the Big Apple make the city look industrial, and gritty, this one uses camerawork which gives it a misty dream-like feel.
Topped with Viswanathan’s comic genius, it makes a decent watch. So decent it actually made me forget about the state of the world currently, and for one moment everything was normal again.
Give it a go.
Ricky's Film Reviews 