"Hearts Beat Loud" Goes Down Easy, and That's The Point

I really loved “Hearts Beat Loud”, a musical that isn’t quite a musical but really a story of a guy reconnecting with his daughter. In a lot of ways, “Hears Beat Loud” feels like a slice of life film that has a musical element, and one of the best parts is the music is quite good. Another great quality of the film is how it doesn’t make a big deal out of anything. For example, the whole plot with the daughter being a lesbian is basically a side note and just accepted as part of the story without it being the central theme. Things the movie could have harped on do not overly take over the film. The fact his daughter is gay isn’t treated as any different than if she had a boyfriend, nor is any of the other characters make a big deal of it. Also, the fact that Sam is biracial isn’t made into a big deal either. The film is so focused on the central conflicts which are more everyday life like the store closing, the dad and daughter bonding over music and the idea that the dad and daughter are conflicted over leaving, for different reasons, but also for the same reasons. There’s also a stoner bar tender played by Ted Denson, who is a friend of Frank, which is a delightful side note.

The plot concerns a record store owned named Frank Fisher (Nick Offerman), who’s store is closing due to the rent becoming too high in the Red Hook section of Brooklyn. His landlord Leslie (Toni Collette) really doesn’t want to shut down the record store, but it’s hard with Brooklyn becoming a hipster haven in recent years and the prices just ticking up and up. Meanwhile his daughter Sam (Kiersey Clemons) is set to go to medical school in California. Frank doesn’t want her to go, as most dads do not really want their daughters to go, but it’s even on a deeper level with Frank, since he has been a single dad for years with his wife having died in a bike accident. He’s also responsible for his mom (Blythe Danner) who is slowly losing her grip on things.

                The thing that really ties this movie together is Frank’s love for music. His daughter and him have a tradition of jamming out together, but as she’s gotten older, probably has lost its cute factor. However, Frank still wants to uphold the tradition. However, his daughter really has talent and has been writing songs of her own based on her new relationship with another girl around her age in Brooklyn, whose name is Rose (Sasha Lane).  Frank and her jam out to the song she wrote called “Hearts Beat Loud” in a scene that feels like a well-made music video. Things become more complicated when Frank without her knowledge downloads the song to the online music app Spotify. The scene is still adorable, as the chemistry between Nick Offerman and Kiersey Clemons is believable as father and daughter. Honestly, everyone has good chemistry with Nick Offerman. Offerman is one talented guy, as anyone who follows him can add guitar playing to his long list of skills. Offerman is one of those actors who has the best facial expressions, and a great deep voice when he speaks.

                Clemons is quite a find herself, as she can sing and act. The songs in this film are great and deserve a nod for best original song as the Oscars. The director is Brett Haley, who has made a name for himself by making feel good indie films, and has worked with Nick Offerman, Toni Collette and Blythe Danner before. One of the things “Hearts Beat Loud” does impressively is balance a bunch of plot points which could have made the film feel all over the place, but by tying it all together with music, it doesn’t feel all over the place because at the core of this story is really a dad reconnecting with his daughter in a normal fashion. She’s becoming a young adult. It’s not that they aren’t close. It’s just the normal progression of things.

                The film goes down easy and doesn’t have anything that really overpowers the viewer. At its core, the film is just a nice story about a father and daughter. Nick Offerman is always a great actor as always. He was one of the biggest Emmy snubs over seven season of the NBC sitcom “Parks and Recreation”, but this film shows how much of a vertical actor he is as well. He isn’t playing the guff character of Ron Swanson here. However, the biggest discovery of this film is Kiersey Clemons who sings, acts and is adorable and wonderful in her role as Sam. Sometimes movies just tell nice stories, and that’s also a good place to shine. The story this film tells isn’t going to change your life, but maybe it will. I don’t know, but I do know I was glad to see it. It’s really a heartwarming winner.