The Broken Hearts Gallery: The Tenet of Rom-Coms
With movie theaters closed down for the majority of the year there was a lot of weight resting on Tenet’s shoulders. A dazzling big budget, studio action movie from a well-established director that was meant to be the film that would re-open movie theaters. While it was originally slated to be released in July, it was pushed off until Labor Day weekend when it was safe enough to open in a wide variety of theaters.
As the slate of new movies was delayed further and further past summer into fall Tenet’s director made all sorts of bold statements about his film “saving cinemas”, there wasn’t a lot of attention on the other films opening around this period. The only other major releases were the long-delayed X-Men spin-off The New Mutants and the gritty Russel Crowe action-thriller Unhinged. Of this line-up the sole non-action release was The Broken Hearts Gallery, a young adult rom-com from Sony Pictures whose biggest claim to fame was a producing credit from Selena Gomez.
In stark contrast to Tenet, this movie came from first time writer-director Natalie Krinsky; a comparatively young talent who is best known for her writing on Grey’s Anatomy and Gossip Girl. This was the only movie that didn’t have any explosions or really any major stars behind it. It was released completely as the idea of counter-programming and it makes an argument for the role of romantic comedies in theaters in a time when most are being relegated to big streamers like Netflix, Amazon Prime or Hulu.
Now that the film’s been released on VOD, I’m happy I could finally see this little rom-com in a safe environment and I’m also happy to say it lived up to all my expectations. The film follows Lucy played by an incredibly sharp Geraldine Viswanathan, a 26-year-old woman working in the fine arts field in New York City. She’s often ridiculed by her friends over her obsession with her emotional attachment to objects she’s held on to from past relationships and after a relationship flare up leads to her getting fired from her current gallery job she channels her quirk into an art project featuring the items others have held on from relationship’s passed.
What immediately sets this film apart from other rom-coms is it isn’t about Lucy changing anything about herself, it’s about her journey to find acceptance from others and the relationship that comes to her from that journey. With incredibly sharp dialogue, a diverse cast of characters and writing that’s as clever as it is empathetic, The Broken Hearts Gallery feels like a refreshingly feminist update on a formula you’d be very comfortable with if you are a fan of the rom-com genre.
It’s clear Natalie Krinsky is well-versed in the language of rom-coms. While there are plenty of references to social media and current slang, at its core this feels like the type of beloved rom-com from the ‘90s you’d find as a staple in someone’s DVD collection. One of my favorite parts of this movie is how throughout the film it’s interspersed with documentary style vignettes with interview footage of everyday people talking through the artifacts they held on and what it meant in the context of their relationships. Some of the stories are funny, some are sweet, some are pretty sad. It’s a definite nod to When Harry Met Sally but it also works within the context of the art project Lucy is creating.
Watching this movie on the small screen with my partner made me think about why Sony Pictures decided to put this movie in theaters during a global pandemic. The film plays incredibly well on the couch with some blankets and I feel could have gotten a level of success similar to something like To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before or Palm Springs if the movie was more easily accessible on a major streaming service. However, it also makes me think about how rom-coms are thriving culturally but for some reason studios don’t think they’re viable on the big screen anymore. While other films have been delayed into 2021, this film was ready for whenever the day theaters were going to re-open and was going to be released within weeks of whenever WB decided to bring out the widely anticipated Tenet.
The Broken Hearts Gallery is the ideal PG-13 rom-com. It played well and was incredibly relatable to my partner, who worked in fine arts and is the same age as the protagonist but I feel the film could play really well to younger teens as well. There’s not really too much objectionable content in the movie and it has such a positive exuberance it can win over the most jaded critic. The kind of movie that would make a fun night out with friends or a date at the mall and you’d get some froyo after.
I would have loved to see this in a theater with a crowd laughing and cheering for Lucy finding someone that accepts her as well as navigating her career as an artist. Now that it’s possible to watch this movie without endangering the life of yourself or people around you, I’d highly recommend checking this out. If Tenet was a cold, overly complex movie with stoic expressionless characters and a massive budget, The Broken Hearts Gallery is a comforting, elegant story with a low budget and a big heart. When things are as stressful as they are now, I know what movie I’d prefer.
The Broken Hearts Gallery is currently available to own as a digital purchase on iTunes, Amazon Video, Vudu, Google Play, Microsoft Movies & TV and FandangoNOW or on physical media wherever Blu-rays and DVDs are sold.
Chris Cookson is an animator based in Los Angeles and lover of genre cinema. He is particularly interested in the history around film and how they are a reflection of current events. He went to art school in New York City and can confirm this movie is pretty accurate. You can follow more of him on Twitter @coldmilk or Instagram @coldmilk.