Add The Broken Hearts Gallery to your list of 2020 rom-coms that need to be seen. The film is a beautiful lesson in letting go of the past but remembering how those experiences can shape your future.
With executive production from Selena Gomez, The Broken Hearts Gallery follows the life of Lucy Gulliver (Geraldine Viswanathan), a mid-20s, not-so-confident, New York transplant that’s searching for true love. With her roommates Amanda (Molly Gordon) and Nadine (Phillipa Soo) to keep her sane after her copious breakups, they also take aim at alleviating her hoarding habit. What’s seen as trash by most are seen as keepsakes by Lucy, but as her collection begins to grow, even Lucy herself has to take a bit of a pause for self-discovery.
Seeing Dacre Montgomery as Nick and not as Billy Hargrove took some adjusting. I mean yeah, he was the Red Ranger too in 2017, but c’mon, he’s really known for being Billy Hargrove from Stranger Things. After my eyes adjusted and my mind shifted from Starcourt to New York city, he really fit in his role as the eventual love interest. The cool, mellow, dry-humor guy of few words and little expectations. He nailed it.
I was proud to witness the sheer greatness that was Geraldine Viswanathan’s performance. With a wonderful balance of humor and humility, Viswanathan represented all of the beauty, wonder, and confusion of being a young-adult. Even though she’s had some play on the popular ‘BoJack Horseman’ series, this might be the role to push her over the top.
Couple a fun story with a fun soundtrack and a lot of laughs and you’ll get TBHG. I thoroughly enjoyed it and think that audiences will easily relate to the dating qualms of this generation and the ability to manage and accept pain.
Pain is an emotion that we’ll all experience at some point or another. The film addresses multiple forms of pain and ways to deal with them. There was a lighthearted moment between Lucy and Nadine where Lucy asked for her expert advice on how to dump someone generously. It was silly in its presentation, but beneath the surface, Lucy would find certain aspects useful that she would apply in her own way as the film continued.
I give The Broken Hearts Gallery a 9 out of 10. If I can say one thing about apocalyp-, ahem, pandemic living, is that the quality of romantic comedies have been top-tier. The film hits theaters today!
-Jon J.
Photos: Courtesy of Tri-Star Pictures