‘Hearts Beat Loud’
Directed by Brett Haley
Starring Nick Offerman, Kiersey Clemons, Ted Danson, Toni Collette
Rated PG-13
Nick Offerman gives a nuanced performance as a single father and the owner of a Red Hook record store in the new indie drama “Hearts Beat Loud.”
Set in the isolated Brooklyn neighborhood, Offerman’s Frank Fisher owns and runs Red Hook Records, which is on the verge of closing. He’s got a daughter, Sam (Kiersey Clemons, a revelation).
It’s a crossroads in life for Frank, and one that is filled spending precious time with his Sam, who is about leave for college. Both musicians, the father/daughter duo rock out in jam sessions together.
When Sam plays a song she wrote, he is amazed by it and decides they have to record it. It becomes a minor hit on Spotify — and Frank wants to tour, and form a band with Sam. She just wants to go to college.
“Hearts Beat Loud,” directed tenderly by Brett Haley, is indeed full of heart. It’s a film about finding your place and looking for happiness. Offerman imbues Frank with a sense of joy and hopelessness. But as his life unravels, music is there to fill the void. It’s a sweet song, and a sweet film.
