4 out of 5 stars (one of the best of the year)
The Broken Hearts Gallery is one of the best films I’ve seen this year. It’s not headlined by big stars, approaches its story and characters with refreshing believability, and overcomes its few flaws with wit and cleverness. Most surprisingly, it comes from first time writer/director Natalie Krinsky, who shows remarkable skill for a debut feature and announces Geraldine Viswanathan as a star on the rise. The Broken Hearts Gallery is a warm, hilarious, and sincere romantic comedy that will lift your spirits.
Lucy (Geraldine Viswanathan) has hoarded memorabilia from her past relationships. When her latest boyfriend Max (Utkarsh Ambudkar) dumps her, she gets tipsy at a business function and loses her job. After her friends (Molly Gordon and Phillipa Soo) get her out of her funk, she meets Nick (Dacre Montgomery, Stranger Things) who needs help renovating a hotel. After she hangs something of Max’s there and posts about it online, both Lucy and the hotel go viral as a place for others to leave their exes’ stuff while her and Nick’s relationship slowly blossoms.
The Broken Hearts Gallery is a breath of fresh air. The world, dialogue, and character relationships feel refreshingly realistic, the cast is made up of mostly unknowns who look like regular people rather than sexy A-listers, and the witty humor earns big laughs throughout. Viswanathan and Montgomery’s chemistry is solid and their relationship grows at a believable pace, while the supporting cast gets plenty of great comic material (though Bernadette Peters suffers from Resting Botox Face here).
Flaw-wise, there are 2 or 3 scenes that could have been cut to improve pacing, but they pass quickly and are forgivable amongst the films’ strengths. The Broken Hearts Gallery is a hilarious, grounded romcom with wonderful performances, witty humor, and a believable romance that should leave you all beaming. See it.
Rated PG-13 for Sexual Content Throughout, Some Crude References, Strong Language, And Drug References