From Note to Note, a Father and Daughter Bond by Making Music

Kiersey Clemons and Nick Offerman in "Hearts Beat Loud"
Photo Credit: RottenTomatoes.com

Over the years, cinema has given us many stories about aspiring musicians and singers searching for greatness, and these films continue to fascinate.  Recently, we’ve been given Joel and Ethan Brothers’ “Inside Llewyn Davis,” John Carney’s “Sing Street,” “Begin Again,” and “Once,” and Damien Chazelle’s “La La Land,” “Whiplash,” and “Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench.”  While all of these films have a common story, they all have their differences that keep this traditional chase-your-dream narrative compelling.

This is the case with writer-director Brett Haley’s comedy-drama, “Hearts Beat Loud.”  Despite a familiar narrative, the movie treats you to a poignant father-daughter story that’s filled with fine performances and a blazing soundtrack, all of which make this film deserving of being the breakout hit of the year.

Frank Fisher (Nick Offerman) is a single father who owns a record store in Red Hook, Brooklyn.  His daughter, Sam (Kiersey Clemons), is preparing to head to the west coast to study pre-med.  After they record a song during a jam session, Frank uploads it online, and it soon goes viral.  Thinking that they have the potential to make it big, Frank tries to convince Sam to stay in New York for a while to see where their musical talents may take them.  

Offerman needs to have more leading roles in film, as he’s proven himself here and in a diverse group of supporting performances in movies like “The Hero” (which Haley released last year), “The Founder,” and the “21 Jump Street” films.  While Offerman gave us many laughs as gruff woodworker Ron Swanson on the hit sitcom, “Parks and Recreation,” he carries this film with a proven dexterity of being able to juggle both comedic and poignant aspects within his performance.  Offerman has a chance to be funny, but his character also provides him with an opportunity to do something dramatic because of the engaging parent-child bond that his character gets to build with his daughter when they share the screen.

Clemons provides an emotional performance of a young woman who’s experiencing what her future can offer.  With superb work, Clemons displays the happiness of finding love, the ache she holds over the passing of her mother, the indecision of which path to pursue in life, and much more.  And, aside from her considerable acting abilities, Clemons has a dynamite singing voice.  Just like when you see her character tapping into a talent she almost wants to put aside, you see Clemons exhibit a talent that you can’t believe you’re not seeing until now (she broke onto the scene with Rick Famuyiwa’s 2015 comedy-drama, “Dope”), and it’s in the scenes where she sings that you find a new side to Clemons as she displays an ability to make the screen her own.

The film has several memorable supporting characters throughout, such as Ted Danson, who plays a wise bartender and Frank’s friend; and Toni Collette, who plays Frank’s caring landlady.  However, the best of the supporting performances comes from relative newcomer Sasha Lane (she landed her first movie role as the lead in Andrea Arnold’s 2017 road film, “American Honey”), who plays Sam’s new girlfriend.  All of Lane’s scenes are with Clemons, which helps to strengthen the connection between the two characters, and Lane’s performance shows that she doesn't have anything less than a long career ahead of her.

Thanks to music by Keegan DeWitt, who worked with Haley on his last two films (2017’s “The Hero” and 2015’s “I’ll See You in My Dreams”), Haley’s latest includes original songs that you'll want to download right away, such as “Hearts Beat Loud,” “Everything Must Go,” and “Blink (One Million Miles).”  These songs go deep into what the characters are feeling, and you can sense the emotion that they pour into each lyric.  This may be the movie soundtrack to beat in 2018.

The screenplay by Haley and Mark Basch, the latter of whom collaborated with Haley on “The Hero” and “I'll See You in My Dreams,” takes the kind of story that we’ve seen before, but shows an affectionate depiction of family, grief, music, pursuing what you love, and letting go.  We learn about these aspects of Frank and Sam’s lives through dialogue, but we also learn just as much about them through the songs that they create.  All of this serves as an emotional way for them to communicate because their music is something over which they connect, and this helps to strengthen their relationship and show how much music means to them. 

Through every scene, Haley’s able to capture the realism of the characters’ lives as he constructs endearing scenes that immerse the audience in the loving father-daughter relationship at the center of the film and the problems that they face.  Similar to other directors who’ve helmed coming-of-age films, Haley’s able to strike a superb balance between the humor and drama of the story, resulting in a narrative that feels genuine from beginning to end.

Just like a beloved song to which you like to listen on repeat, you'll want to experience “Hearts Beat Loud” again as soon as it’s over.

Final grade: A-