Yahoo Movies Stranger Things star's new rom-com wins over critics
Stranger Things baddie Dacre Montgomery has a new film out titled The Broken Hearts Gallery.
Co-starring Geraldine Viswanathan, Phillipa Soo and Utkarsh Ambudkar, this rom-com follows a New Yorker who decides to open an art gallery where people can leave trinkets from past relationships.
Newly released on the big screen, this means we have our first flurry of critics' reactions to check out, which we've clubbed together below.
Related: Stranger Things season 4 on Netflix – where to watch the cast while you wait
"At its best, The Broken Hearts Gallery is sweet, progressive and funny, especially thanks to winning turns from Hamilton's Phillipa Soo and Molly Gordon as Lucy's long-suffering friends. The problem is that given you know where the story is going, it's overlong at 110 minutes and often drags."
"This is such a strange and sneaky little movie, one that creeps up and grabs you by the heartstrings even as you're trying, hopelessly, to pick apart its flaws. It's a rom-com, first of all, formulaic to the core.
"And yet in a year of uninspired genre duds, including The High Note, The Wrong Missy and Love Wedding Repeat, this low-key charmer rises far above the pack thanks to a wickedly funny screenplay from writer-director Natalie Krinsky (Gossip Girl) and an indecently charismatic turn from the rising Australian star Geraldine Viswanathan."
Related: Stranger Things star announces new project after exit from the Netflix show
"The Broken Hearts Gallery pushes all the rom-com buttons but does it knowingly, with a spirit that embraces killer cynicism and then comes out the other side."
"The film's worst offence is that it works way too hard for it to be a light watch. The viewing experience is like wondering if you should laugh while a clown struggles to bench-press 600 pounds. The actors' facial expressions are huge, and the overwrought punchlines feel fitted for a laugh track.
"First-time writer-director Natalie Krinsky's background is in writing for TV shows such as Gossip Girl and Grey's Anatomy, and the hammy energy of the small screen spills all over her movie debut."
"While the story is formulaic at times, peppered with implausible coincidences (as most rom-coms are), a somewhat ludicrous but inoffensive twist, and a heartstring-tugging backstory, The Broken Hearts Gallery works because of its cast, particularly Viswanathan, but also Soo, Gordon, and Montgomery, who is too sweet and pretty to read as anything but pure.
"The lush production design by Zazu Myers, especially in the Chloe Hotel, and rich cinematography by Alar Kivilo make for a colourfully saturated fantasy of New York City that elevates the film. This is a big, juicy rom-com, a rarity these days on the big screen, though it plays just as well on the small."
The Broken Hearts Gallery is out now in cinemas.
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