★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆
The Broken Hearts Gallery seeks to be everything the last year has not been: joyful, optimistic, and fun. Starring the always hilarious Geraldine Viswanathan as Lucy and Stranger Things' Dacre Montgomery as Nick, this film uses neon colour, whimsical adventures, and unrealistic dreams to set up the journey of our two lovebirds. For those who are looking for something more meaningful than a bright canvas of fluorescent paint, this film might not be the masterpiece you crave, but if bright pop art is your thing then you might be in luck.
Lucy’s whole schtick is that she clings to relationships and memories by collecting tokens to remind her of the good times. A lot of these tokens are perceived as junk by those around her yet she just can’t convince herself to throw it away, even when the people she’s reminding herself of were not the best. Enter Nick — Lucy’s love interest who is also somehow building a hotel in New York City despite his questionable financial position and lack of job. Lucy also does not have a job which allows the two of them to spend nearly half a year running around the city as they find furniture for Nick’s hotel while Lucy simultaneously develops an underground art gallery that takes off via Instagram. The gallery, themed around mementos from past relationships, earns her a small amount of cash but more importantly allows her to achieve her dream of running an art gallery in NYC while also saying goodbye to past heartbreak.
Much like the rundown hotel that Nick rebuilds, The Broken Hearts Gallery has a solid foundation. The core idea and the lead actors are enough to give this movie a fighting chance. But the script relies on too many moments of convenience that make it unbelievable, unrealistic, and a bit of a let down. How the characters manage to exist in this world is questionable enough but their relationships are carried by constructed miscommunications that the romantic comedy genre has long since grown out of.
Check out our (slightly more) in depth podcast review + rating below! Podcast music by Brian K.S. Cole.
Podcast Links + Mentions
Jess would pair this movie with a deep clean of your apartment and a nice glass of lemonade. Nick recommends just plain John Cena with this movie. How does this pairing work? That’s up to you.