Hearts Beat Loud (DVD) – Movie Review
Follow Genre: Drama, Comedy
Director: Brett Haley
Distributor: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Duration: 93 minutes

Hearts Beat Loud (DVD) – Movie Review

Site Score
7.0
Good: good acting, charming story, good music
Bad: maybe that it's not original
User Score
7.7
(3 votes)
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Rating: 7.7/10 (3 votes cast)

Hearts Beat Loud first premiered at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival. Directed by Brett Haley; Nick Offerman and Kiersey Clemons star together on screen in a comedy-drama music film. The movie features some original music written by Keegan DeWitt, including the title track. Hearts Beat Loud has been called ‘the feel good movie we need right now’, so let’s see if we do.

Frank Fisher (Nick Offerman) is a single father living in Brooklyn. His daughter Sam (Kiersey Clemons) is about to leave for college while he is forced to close his vintage record store. Since they both share a love for music, Frank suggests to turn their weekly jam sessions into a father-daughter band. Trying to keep the connection he has with his daughter, he uploads a song they recorded on Spotify. When their first song turns out to be a hit, Frank tries to pursue his daughter to continue down this road. They set off on a musical journey filled with love, family and self-discovery.

While her dad gets overly excited about being in a band, Sam gives him a reality check because she has to make a choice between trying to succeed at that life and going to college and becoming a doctor. We see a man still haunted by the past, still living in the past opposed to a girl ready to move to the future.

Hearts Beat Loud starts off right, gets the middle right and ends subtle and soft, but great. There is no revolutionary plot here or anything and that’s fine. Both the story and the characters are very charming, making the movie enjoyable to watch from beginning to ending. In the middle of everything is music; the central theme of the movie. The songs that are being used fit in with the atmosphere of the movie. This goes for both the soundtrack and the songs by Frank and Sam. Father and daughter are both people expressing themselves through lyrics and melodies.

Hearts Beat Loud is essentially a comedy-drama music film. The movie shows choices that have to be made during a lifetime and opportunities that present themselves. The drama is there but it isn’t overly dramatic. You could best describe it as feel good drama. In-between there is some room for laughter and love. The fact that Sam is gay isn’t a main theme here and that makes the movie even more perfect. However, we do hope that this wasn’t just some movie to check off a lot of critical points like ‘gay relationships’.

Besides the main road the movie is taking, we’re also seeing some side tracks appearing. These involve Frank’s best friend Dave (Ted Danson), his mother Marianne (Blythe Danner) and Leslie (Toni Collette). These side-roads are nice additions to get a deeper look into the characters’ lives.

The performances of both main actors are smashing. Nick Offerman shows us a man struggling financially and with the past. It feels like his face and facial features were made for this part. We very much approve of Nick playing Frank, who is very entertaining to watch throughout the whole movie. His co-star Kiersey Clemons clearly also gave her very best playing a teenager on the verge of adulthood. While some may already know her from the movie “Dope”, others might not know her at all. But let us assure you; she’s got it. We absolutely loved both her acting and singing. Now, the chemistry between Offerman and Clemons is also worth a mention. These two actors seem to have found each other on screen, giving the audience a wonderful father-daughter relationship to watch.

The DVD edition of Hearts Beat Loud doesn’t come with any special features. We’re not surprised by this and to be honest, we also don’t really mind. Just the movie is satisfying enough as it is, we doubt some extra footage could be as charming as the movie itself.

Conclusion

Hearts Beat Loud is one of the better indie films released in 2018. There’s the enjoyable music, the first class acting and chemistry, the charming story and the feel good drama. If you put together all these positive elements, you can only end up with a fun movie. While the story or plot aren’t anything too original, we still enjoyed watching this one.

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Rating: 7.7/10 (3 votes cast)
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Hearts Beat Loud (DVD) - Movie Review, 7.7 out of 10 based on 3 ratings
Maui Vindevogel


23 year old based in Belgium with a passion for writing

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