Nagfilms The words 'music' and 'quiet' don't normally go together in a sentence, but they are apt adjectives to describe the nice little independent movie, 'Hearts Beat Loud' starring Nick Offerman (of Parks and Recreation fame) and directed by Brett Haley. Offerman portrays widower Frank Fisher, the owner of Red Hook Records, who has reached a point of change in his life. He's tired of owning a lightly visited vintage vinyl record store, conflicted in his feelings as his only child, daughter Sam (an excellent Kiersey Clemons), is preparing to leave Brooklyn for UCLA Med School, and searching for a dream of making it big as a two-man band with his daughter. There are several original songs in the movie (all beautiful with Kiersey showing quite exceptional vocals), and all tell the story of how both Frank and Sam feel about each other, their position in their respective lives, and where the lives are headed. If you have a child, or had a child, or were a child, that is about to embark on their own, independent life, this movie continually gives you undertones of poignancy, longing for times past, and hopefulness for the future. There are no explosions, no superhero's, no villains...just a beautiful, 'quiet' movie that invites you in to this father/daughter life and their struggle(s) just to move on in life.

jmc4769 This is a fluffy, feel-good movie about a midlife-crisis dad and his college-bound daughter who bond while recording three songs together over the summer after her high school graduation. The movie unfortunately wasn't as good as I thought it was going to be in the beginning. About 30 minutes of the running time is taken up with the two of them recording and performing their music, which leaves only about an hour of skimpy drama. The movie's biggest asset is character development, which kept me interested up to a point. But it drags in the middle due to a weak storyline and ends with a thud. None of the various subplots are adequately resolved, and some are completely abandoned.The filmmakers seem to be trying to recreate the charm of independent musical movies like Once. But it doesn't quite work. The acting is good but not great. As dad and daughter, Nick Offerman and Kiersey Clemons are appealing but not charismatic. The songs are catchy but forgettable. Not a bad way to spend an hour and a half though...as long as your expectations aren't too high.

torrascotia I managed to catch this at a screening at the Edinburgh Film Festival. It was one of those bookings I took a risk on and knew very little about it apart from the fact Nick Offerman was the lead. Firstly this is a family focused feel good movie with a musical theme. If that doesn't sound like your thing then its not for you. We have Nick Offerman looking like an angry old owl who is a widower and has a musically talented daughter, Sam played by Kiersey Clemons. Sam is preparing to leave for medical school and her father is featuring less in her life as a result. The father and daughter make music together for fun, hence the musical content of the movie. Sam has also just started a same sex relationship with an artist, so we have a three way love tug of war centring on whether the daughter will leave her new love and father behind, just when the family band have a possibility of commercial success. That is all you need to know without giving any spoilers. What I did find interesting and authentic was the fact that they paid a fair bit of attention to the music making process, which as someone who is interested in this kind of thing is a bonus. We see them use MIDI keyboards, effects pedals on guitars and what also must be the first time Abelton Live and Push have been featured in a movie. Which is interesting in itself as the style of music played is not really the electronic kinds you would associate with Laptop driven music. The weaknesses I found in the story were funnily enough around the use of the internet, the main character is savvy enough to record and supposedly master (we never see this process) then upload his music to Spotify, but hasn't cottoned on to the fact he could be selling his music stock online as well? The music featured in the movie is basically Eno-esque indy pop by the family band with a bunch of other guitary indy type fodder. How much the music means to you will be down to your own tastes but music does feature heavily especially towards the finale. However as a feel good movie it definitely hits the mark and at no point during the movie did I feel a cringe or feel the story was becoming too sentimental, which is usually the case with these types of movies. This is an easy to watch movie and a rare exploration of the father daughter dynamic within a mixed race family over a shared love of music.

josephbeverlin A movie that is so painfully dull and uninteresting it made me want to wrap myself in barbed wire and drink a whiskey glass full of drano. There are definitely worse movies out there, at least every shot in this is in focus, but it was so painfully on the nose with all its phony sentimentality that I wanted to die. At one point I rolled my eyes so far into the back of my head that I saw a different dimension and my nose began to bleed. Anyways whatever. I seem to be the only one who didn't like this so I'll shut up.