Synopsis – What if you saved a souvenir from every relationship you’ve ever been in? THE BROKEN HEARTS GALLERY follows the always unique Lucy (Geraldine Viswanathan), a 20-something art gallery assistant living in New York City, who also happens to be an emotional hoarder. After she gets dumped by her latest boyfriend, Lucy is inspired to create The Broken Heart Gallery, a pop-up space for the items love has left behind. Word of the gallery spreads, encouraging a movement and a fresh start for all the romantics out there, including Lucy herself.
I want to mark down some romantic comedy tropes that this movie does here: big romatic gestures, BFFs who give love advice, no middle ground in love making just a kiss and then a jump cut to rufffled sheets ( Cosmopolitan)
(Vulture) Takes place in new york, The heroine has a decent apartment with roommates, heroine is adorable, big presentation, tropey guy names like nick, max, and jeff
The Broken Hearts Gallery is an obvious Romantic Comedy movie with the tropes to suit it. The heroine in this film; Lucy, is a progressive New York Art assistant with a complicated love life. She has best friends who drop everything to listen to her after breakups, she has a decent sized apartment with a great wardrobe, and she is clumsy. Despite these tropes that are brand name Romantic Comedy themes. Lucy and her friends bring out a charming story that stutters sometimes and saves itself just in time for the finale. This is a review of The Broken Hearts Gallery Movie
This film opens up with some creative visual effects of sweeping city scapes with Lucy’s knick knacks in the scenes and scaled to be larger than life which simulate nicely what love baggage feels like. Lucy lives in a lofty apartment with her lifelong besties Amanda, and Nadine. Their roles are primarily to support Lucy and are on standby to help her with every break up which happens a lot. Lucy takes the full impact of her breakups at point blank range and we see her high highs bragging to her girlfriends about her first boyfriend Max played by () and her low lows after a grandiose meltdown at a public gallery and a (rom com trope) clumsy fall while speaking to a crowded art gallery crowd and watching max flirt with another girl. Lucy reacts in a way the reaps sympathy and I cheered for Lucy to be happy early on. Her main quirk for this story is she hangs on to everything sentimental from her past relationships making her room a faux gallery of it’s own.
Lucy storms out of the art gallery and mistakenly gets in the hero of the film’s car Nick. (which I think is a tropey guys name). Lucy and Nick have a back and forth argument and finally caves to pretending to be Lucy’s driver and drives her home. This sets up Nick and Lucy’s friendship and eventual love interest which weaves throughout the back and foreground of the movie along with it’s themes of cynicism and hope for finding love. Lucy meets with Nick again and discover they can work together on his hotel he is building and Lucy takes her concept of the movies’ namesake and opens up the first of the Broken Hearts Gallery to rid herself of her romantic baggage. The film authorizes other anecdotes from people who participate in the gallery but the chance to raise the film up higher and beyond a tropey rom com, is missed and those contributing their broken hearted keepsakes are montaged together and forgotten about.
This film keeps in line with the greatest hits of it’s genre themes and it’s concept is more of a texture rather than a distinct plot. Though the film neatly wraps up it’s characters from start to finish like a textbook rule. Literally beginning and ending with an art gallery opening, I enjoyed this film for it’s laugh out loud moments and honest moments of character traits. Lucy is a believable, easy to root for bleeding heart throughout and delivers a knock out performance as her character leaps and falls through tragedy and triumph.
Shameless Romantic Comedy genre movie, muted conflict and pay-off in act 2, Interesting story concept, great performances
8/10 | Popcorn Movie
Skills Give Life To Dreams 