Hearts Beat Loud (2018)

Directed by: Brett Haley | 93 minutes | comedy, drama | Actors: Nick Offerman, Kiersey Clemons, Blythe Danner, Toni Collette, Sasha Lane, Ted Danson, Jesse Patch, Alex Reznik, Rafael Poueriet, Linda Lee McBride, Quincy Dunn-Baker, Kim Ramirez

Considering the mediocre crap we are often confronted with in the movie theaters, it’s a shame that the average indie film seems to get less and less attention. They disappear immediately on Netflix (think of strong gems such as ‘Private Life’ and ‘The Land of Steady Habits’), or only see the light of day in the Netherlands on DVD (still alive dear people!). There is a good chance that the average audience will not immediately prick up their ears at the title ‘Hearts Beat Loud’. And that while in these cynical times we may need these kinds of films more than ever before.

Where the DVD seems to be an almost extinct phenomenon, vinyl has been on the rise for several years now. And yet Frank (Nick Offerman, probably best known to the general public for his roles in television series such as ‘Parks and Recreation’ (‘Ron f***ing Swanson!’) and ‘Fargo’) spends his days in his record store mostly smoking and YouTube; After all, most customers now prefer websites such as Amazon to the physical shopping experience. Frank seems to enjoy the ‘jam sessions’ with his daughter Sam (Kiersey Clemons). A major absentee is Frank’s wife, who died a few years ago in a fatal accident. Now that Sam is about to leave the nest to go to college, Frank realizes all the more how much he enjoys the weekly sessions with his daughter and the hole her departure will leave in his life.

When they record the song ‘Hearts Beat Loud’ one evening, Frank is so impressed by his daughter that he decides to upload the song on Spotify. When the song made the playlist of a local coffee shop a few days later (#lifegoals), Frank tries to strengthen his ambitions to form a bond with his daughter. But Sam, unimpressed by her somewhat clingy father’s career, holds firmly to her ambitions to study medicine; a life as an artist simply involves too many uncertainties.

What makes ‘Hearts Beat Loud’ such a great film is that it avoids very heavy themes. Sam’s sexuality is simply a given, still more the exception than the rule in American cinema, and Frank mainly struggles internally with his loneliness. Father and daughter find each other in the music, so that thick dialogues and melodramatic plot twists are fortunately omitted. The subtle, understated nature of the struggle with life wins out over the grand gesture in ‘Hearts Beat Loud’, which is exactly why the film looks away so wonderfully, only to trigger a sneaky goosebumps moment here and there.

With his wonderfully loose lead role, Nick Offerman effortlessly joins the list of ‘fine film fathers’ that seem to populate American films more and more in recent years (think of Michael Stuhlbarg in ‘Call Me By Your Name’ and Tracy Letts in ‘Lady Bird’ ). Clemons also shows himself a gifted talent, in acting and vocals. With fine supporting actors such as Ted Danson (hilarious) and Toni Collette (with a fairly brilliant scene in a karaoke bar as the highlight) you don’t even need that much anymore. But don’t discount the very pleasant soundtrack either. There’s a good chance you’ll immediately add some songs to your Spotify playlist after seeing the film (although of course you should of course immediately run to your local record store to buy the physical album).

‘Hearts Beat Loud’ will probably not penetrate the collective film memory, but it is the type of film of which we may just see too few. A film that you may need every now and then: not too many pretensions, an incredibly fine cast, a wonderfully light tone and a very ‘chill’ soundtrack. With these kinds of films you can forget the cynical shadow that hangs over this time for an hour and a half. So you have to take a chance on that prehistoric DVD for the time being.