Amid the dinosaurs. Amid the transformers. Amid the explosions and CGI and superheroes and everything summer movie fare saturates our theaters with-- I love finding those one to two under-the-radar quiet indie movies to cleanse my summer palate and remind me why I love movies in the first place. There's always one and it usually sneaks up on you. These are movies like Little Miss Sunshine, Juno, The Way Way Back, Chef, St. Vincent, Love and Mercy, Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, Dope. And just as it does nearly every year, another quiet indie has snuck up on me and given me that palate cleanser I needed. Most of you probably haven't heard of Hearts Beat Loud yet. I hadn't seen a trailer for it until about a week ago and I accidentally stumbled upon it online. If Hollywood would give the same attention to films like this one instead of relegating them as "indie" fare only receiving limited releases, we might all have a reason to go to the theater more often. It's certainly a shame you haven't heard of this film because it's a wonderful movie that's nothing but feel-goodness, which is something we all desperately need right now.
Nick Offerman (best known as Ron Swanson from Parks and Rec) is Frank, the owner of a failing record store and father to Sam (Kiersey Clemons), an ambitious young girl readying herself to leave for med school across the country at UCLA. Frank is just a big kid, whereas Sam is the responsible one. When Sam wants to do prep work for pre-med classes, Frank wants to have a "jam sesh". Together, the two of them write, perform, and record a song called "Hearts Beat Loud". Here, Frank truly learns of his daughter's talent-- not just as a songwriter, but as a singer with the pipes of a friggin angel. In the past, Frank had been a part of a band with his late wife. Since her death, he's been aching to start a new band with his daughter-- something she rejects each time it's brought up (because, seriously, who wants to be in a band with their dad?). However, Frank decides to put their song up on Spotify and they become a *very* small indie music hit-- their song winds up on a Spotify playlist. Frank pushes his daughter to finally start a band with him, but that would mean pausing her dreams of college and med school and L.A.
It's a very sentimental movie. Frank wants to start this band with Sam because he doesn't know how to let her go. He's decided not to re-up on his lease at the record store after seventeen years and his daughter is heading to the other side of the country for college. Frank doesn't know how to be alone as his daughter is the only constant in his life. Sam doesn't want to start the band because she's finally ready TO let go. She's dating (a girl!--- yes, this is a movie about a queer person of color!!!! Thank you!), she's taking pre- premed classes, and she's all but out the door when their song finds the small amount of "success" that it does. So, the two are constantly at odds with each other about the "band" they've started. They jam together, they write songs together, they're creatively vulnerable together as they encourage one another with their art. Yet, the end game for this "band" is never really agreed upon by both. The father-daughter relationship is the strength of the movie and while I said it's sentimental, the script isn't bogged down by overt and cheesy sentimentality. These are real characters who the audience care deeply about. As "regular people" ourselves, yeah we wanna see a 17-year-old kid and her grey-bearded dad start a band and get famous. That's why we go to the movies. To see some shit like that happen. As realists we know that Frank is just trying to find an escape from the impending loneliness that's awaiting him once Sam leaves. We know Sam NEEDS to go to college and not push it back in favor of trying to become famous. But there are these seriously tender moments between them. And the songs-- OH MAN the songs-- we want them to succeed.
It helps that the cast is wonderful. Even if the script was a goopy pile of sentimental mush (it's not), an actor like Offerman is going to elevate the script to a point that it's enjoyable just watching him on screen. Clemons is a marvel to watch-- and listen to. Her voice is gut wrenching (in a good way) and will send chills down your whole body. Watching her sing with Offerman off to the side admiring the hell out of her while playing an instrument could've been the whole movie and I would've been satisfied. The two of them have such chemistry, you accept the fact that they're father/daughter almost instantly. This is a duo you want to watch and are sad to see go when the credits roll. Toni Collette also shows up as the quirky landlady of Frank's record store and maybe might have a sort of 'thing' for Frank. Ted Danson also lends his charisma as Frank's bar-owning buddy who has just discovered the magic of marijuana. Together this cast fuels a film that's often very funny, very charming, very heartwarming, and just HAPPY. Movies, in general, for audiences, are about escape. Let's go watch dinosaurs eat people for two hours so we can forget about the real world. However, movies like Hearts Beat Loud are a different kind of escape. It's about viewing someone else's real life... in real life scenarios... and seeing how happy people can be and how much love there really is surrounding all the hate. This movie reminds us of the love. And it's damn near perfect.
A
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