THE BROKEN HEARTS GALLERY – Review

With last weekend’s big holiday, the official Summer movie season is over. If this were your normal average year. But it’s most definitely not movie biz as usual. One of the staples of said season, along with the fast cars and super-folks is the romantic comedy or “rom-com”. And these frothy bits of fun ‘flings” can really play any time of the year. Many of the most successful of these flicks have a few things in common. Let’s check off a couple with this week’s release (oh, and it’s only in theatres and drive-ins). Number one: set in a big city (NYC, large ‘check”). And for the “number two” it needs to be centered around an exciting career choice for the main heroine. There’s the world of journalism (glossy mags and such), entertainment (like this Spring’s THE HIGH NOTE), and the art world with fancy shows and paintings with big price tags. A big check for the last setting, since it’s right in the title. But what kind of fun comic hi-jinks are on display in a place called THE BROKEN HEARTS GALLERY? Ah, that’s a good question…

To answer that, the story begins with an “eight years ago” flashback. Poor lil’ Lucy (Geraldine Viswanathan) is trying to get over the latest romantic “dumping”, helped by her two life-long BFFs, tough no-nonsense Amanda (Molly Gordon) and adventurous, exotic Nadine (Phillipa Soo). Despite the pleadings of her pals, Lucy insists on keeping a “knick-knack” from her now “ex”, adding to a big collection of various items (keys, shoes, shirts, etc.). Cut to today as the three share a spacious “Big Apple” apartment. Amanda’s in law school and has a near-silent beau named Jeff (Nathan Dale) who’s always playing a game app on his cell, while Nadine dabbles in fashion while “hooking up” with a new foreign-born “waif” model every week. As for Lucy, she’s still got that BF “haul” on display in her bedroom, though she’s also got a great new “man”, artist Max Vora (Utkarsh Ambudkar) who has a new show opening at the prestigious art gallery run by the famous Eva Woolf (Bernadette Peters), where Lucy works as an assistant. On the night of the show, Eva tasks Lucy with introducing Max to the patrons (the “big speech” of the night). Unfortunately, Lucy is distracted by the sight of Max reconnecting with his ex. Too many cocktails fuel the humiliating scene. As she leaves, Max informs her that he is indeed back with that ex. Oh, and she’s been fired from the gallery. Later Lucy stumbles into a car that she believes is from her ‘transport app”. Despite the pleadings of the driver, Nick (Dacre Montgomery), and the backseat full of lumber and paint cans, Lucy insists on being driven home. Which he does. Soon after, Lucy (lugging a bag of her “bust-up” momentoes) spots Max in a restaurant and tries to confront him. Luckily Nick is there to whisk her away to his big project. He’s renovating an old YMCA, transforming it into a small upscale specialty hotel. Lucy impulsively volunteers to help (unpaid) and hammers an old necktie on to an unfinished wall. Using a marker to scribble next to it, she announces that the hotel will be the home of her “broken hearts gallery”. Over the next weeks, Lucy reaches out to the city via social media and begins getting items, and donations, to fund the “space”. All this while forges a close friendship with the soft-spoken Nick. Could this lead to something more? Or will things go south when Max re-enters the picture?

An energetic cast of twenty-something (mostly) actors do their best to put a post-modern spin on the rom-com formulas. Viswanathan, who completely stole the comedy BLOCKERS a few years ago, is a rather unconventional lead as the smart, snarky Lucy whose brain seems to be racing to keep up with her near-nonstop commentary on, well, everything and everybody. Although Lucy may often seem endearingly quirky, she often plays as slightly abrasive (especially as she vocally “steamrollers” over Nick and other characters), despite Viswanathan’s confident efforts (I was gasping for breath during so many of her rapid-fire exchanges). On the opposite end is Montgomery, in a big change from the “evil Billy” of Netflix’s “Stranger Things”, whose Nick feels too stoic at times, perhaps in an effort to draw us in, but keeps him at arm’s length. As he and Lucy connect, particularly as they “dumpster scavenge’ for the lobby decor, we get more of his casual, charming line delivery, spiced with a raspy voice and smoldering smoky eyes. They can be funny, but the lion’s share of laughs comes from Gordon who hurls insults and advice with little “filter”. She’s a good counter-part (like an angel and devil on Lucy’s shoulders) to the smooth sultry Soo (so great as Eliza in HAMILTON), who deigns to share her wisdom with those mixed-up “breeders”, particularly as she imparts her “sure-fire dumping” rap (“Time to return home.”). Ambudkah, so funny as the con-man in BRITTANY RUNS A MARATHON, is saddled with the louse/”Baxter” hybrid and somehow is able to squeeze out some knowing laughs. Peters is absent for much of the plot but is effective as the “dragon lady” turned wise mentor. The story is also enhanced by several smaller roles played by Megan Ferguson, Suki Waterhouse, and SNL’s Ego Nwodim, who must find a way to mention her time at Havard in any conversation.

Natalie Krinsky makes her feature film debut here working from her own script (she’s a prolific TV scribe). She has some fun with the opening titles as Lucy’s collection towers over the NYC streets, but it’s not long before she’s settling into some the genre’s more stale cliches ( a collage of dancing in the lobby while a forgettable pop tune plays), and digs back to WHEN HARRY MET SALLY for some “confessionals” with the characters, stopping the story “flow” right in its tracks. The biggest problem is the “meet cute” of Lucy and Nick is more annoying than adorable. It makes us wonder why he doesn’t dash out the back exit when he spots her about to make a big scene in his pal’s restaurant. This leads to lots of bits that feel cloying and a bit pretentious, while a big third act dramatic reveal plays as a heavy-handed attempt to insert some pathos into Lucy’s obsessions ( a running gag is her being insulted by being called a hoarder…” We don’t use the ‘H’ word!”). Also in those last minutes, some obstacles must be placed in front of the two leads in order to detour us into a big out of character public declaration that doesn’t feel “earned”. But the biggest “thorn’ may be the title itself, making a standing shrine to failed romance seems to be a not-so-distant cousin to the displays near the sites of accidents or big social media staged proposals or gender reveals. It’s the next level of self-absorbed aggrandizement. The film’s hotel looks pretty great, but I’ll skip THE BROKEN HEARTS GALLERY and head right to my suite and order up a much-better flick.

One and a Half Out of Four