Hearts Beat Loud

I managed to catch this at a screening at the Edinburgh Film Festival. It was one of those bookings I took a risk on and knew very little about it apart from the fact Nick Offerman was the lead. Firstly this is a family focused feel good movie with a musical theme. If that doesn't sound like your thing then its not for you. We have Nick Offerman looking like an angry old owl who is a widower and has a musically talented daughter, Sam played by Kiersey Clemons. Sam is preparing to leave for medical school and her father is featuring less in her life as a result. The father and daughter make music together for fun, hence the musical content of the movie. Sam has also just started a same sex relationship with an artist, so we have a three way love tug of war centring on whether the daughter will leave her new love and father behind, just when the family band have a possibility of commercial success. That is all you need to know without giving any spoilers. What I did find interesting and authentic was the fact that they paid a fair bit of attention to the music making process, which as someone who is interested in this kind of thing is a bonus. We see them use MIDI keyboards, effects pedals on guitars and what also must be the first time Abelton Live and Push have been featured in a movie. Which is interesting in itself as the style of music played is not really the electronic kinds you would associate with Laptop driven music. The weaknesses I found in the story were funnily enough around the use of the internet, the main character is savvy enough to record and supposedly master (we never see this process) then upload his music to Spotify, but hasn't cottoned on to the fact he could be selling his music stock online as well? The music featured in the movie is basically Eno-esque indy pop by the family band with a bunch of other guitary indy type fodder. How much the music means to you will be down to your own tastes but music does feature heavily especially towards the finale. However as a feel good movie it definitely hits the mark and at no point during the movie did I feel a cringe or feel the story was becoming too sentimental, which is usually the case with these types of movies. This is an easy to watch movie and a rare exploration of the father daughter dynamic within a mixed race family over a shared love of music.

What a beautiful movie! I watch a million movies, rarely get moved by one. Tonight I was moved. I take notice when that happens, and run right out here to IMDB.COM and write a review.

I think anybody and everybody can take away something from this movie. I'm an older musician, so especially loved the "band" theme of this movie - but please don't be scared away by thinking this is some kind of musician-only flick. It's not. It's much more. It's about tolerance, love, caring - being a friend - a father, a daughter, a friend - and everything in between.

I highly recommend this movie. What a GEM!

This has 'nice movie' written all over it. And there's nothing wrong with that if that's what you're looking for.

Initially put this on as background noise, but it wasn't too long before I was paying attention and then 100% invested in its story.

Nick Offerman is a far cry from his Park & Rec. days and all the better for it. And Ted Danson's little role didn't hurt either.

The music, although very good, wasn't my bag. And Kiersey Clemons playing a late teen just didn't appeal to me.

For a movie that has a lot on the platter, "Hearts Beat Loud" traverses what foreshadows to be rough waters with a calm, realistic paddle. It has the squeaky clean, educational discovery flavour of the "ABC Afterschool Specials" of TV past, without veering towards any convenient conclusions. The movie just plays out, which as it turns out, is part of its refreshing charm.

"Hearts" works best when focusing on the father-daughter dynamic which is the film's core, keying on Nick Offerman's perfectly understated role facing a personal crossroads struggle. Inserting veteran, recognizable faces Ted Danson and Blythe Danner proves distracting, as is the stilted Jeff Tweedy (Wilco) cameo. Confusing decisions for a film that aches to be small. Smartly, these are but brief interruptions and melt quickly into the background. This is a father film. Period.

As Frank, the judgemental owner of a struggling vinyl record shop, and a single parent to an itchy yet whip ass smart teen, Offerman brings a calm yet burning restraint when faced with major life decisions. His usual poker face satire stance from a wonderful comedic career, being replaced with a surprisingly dramatic nuanced one.

The movie lingers a tad too long on some pieces (warning: there is plenty of music, plus plenty of nerdy music references), and leaves much unresolved, but that just might be the point of delivering this sweet slice of casual life. Hearts actually beat soft.

• hipCRANK

When you watch a movie and it is just calm and beautiful with good acting and a simple storyline it is the best medicine.No massive plot or clever dialogue just a nice human story