Every once in a while, your cool friend (hi Katie!) will urge you to go to the theater to watch a little indie movie that's bursting with heart and ambition. Hearts Beat Loud is one of those films. A movie about the relationship between a father and daughter, about making music, about finding love, it's a sweet and magical little gem that is guaranteed to put a goofy grin on your face and make you hum its title song for the rest of your day.Nick Offerman stars as Frank, the owner of a Brooklyn record store and father to Sam (Kiersey Clemons), a very serious teenage girl who is spending her summer before heading off to UCLA taking pre-med classes so she can be better prepared to get a research internship. Her father is trying to get her to enjoy her summer and insists that she join him in some jam sessions instead of doing homework 24/7. Reluctantly she agrees, and he discovers that she has been jotting down some lyrics, inspired by her budding romance with a local artist (Sasha Lane). They record a song, Hearts Beat Loud, a gorgeous indie confection that has a hook that will haunt you for days. Unbeknownst to Sam, Frank uploads the song to Spotify, where it slips its way into the Daily Indie Mix playlist and excites some interest. Thus arises the question of whether Sam should pursue college or go on tour with her dad and pursue her musical talent.
Yeah, that's where all the parents (particularly non-American ones) reading this blog roll their eyes and say there's no question there. But this is a movie about Brooklyn hipsters, OK, so pursuing art over a medical career is a legitimate option. This is certainly a very Brooklyn movie, where the father doesn't bat an eyelash over learning about his daughter's girlfriend, but is annoyed that she would rather do her science homework instead of playing with the new sampler he bought. But it's also a very sweet father-daughter relationship built on trust and mutual respect. It reminded me of Toni Erdmann, with the father desperately trying to make his uptight daughter relax, except here, the daughter is plenty cool all on her own and just needs to be reminded that she can sing and study at the same time. It also reminded me of Begin Again, a similarly sweet movie about musicians in New York that got lost in the morass of summer blockbusters in 2014, so don't let this movie suffer the same fate.
Hearts Beat Loud is the ideal summer movie - light and breezy, not too serious but packed with dazzling performances from character actors you don't often get to see on the big screen. Toni Colette, Blythe Danner, and Ted Danson toss in charming supporting performances, but Nick Offerman rules the screen until he's upstaged by Kiersey Clemons, who is destined to be a star. The soundtrack by Keegan Dewitt (featuring mostly original songs) is wonderful, and a certain moment in the film has ensured that Mitski's Your Best American Girl is now on repeat on my iPod. At one point, when Sam dismisses her song lyrics as not being about anything, her father tells her that sometimes it's just about the feeling. Well, this movie will certainly make you have all the feelings. So if you want a positive, beautiful movie about people who love each other and have a lot of talent, treat yourself to this film ASAP.
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