Review of Hearts Beat Loud (2018) by Reed W — 30 Jun 2018

A strong cast, and catchy original music on the soundtrack - even if it wasn't necessarily the kind of thing I would seek out and purchase for repeat listening myself, it sure is stuck in my head, and not unpleasant (though I suspect, of its time, i.e. indie, homemade-ish, late 2010s).

There were some very touching moments, which I think held together more as a gestalt for my husband than for me. It does show decent range on the part of Nick Offerman (a sort of tragicomic vibe along the lines of ~High Fidelity~ or aspects of ~School of Rock~), but I think most people will be charmed by one or both of the two young actresses.

Some mixed feelings about the representation of the neighborhood's culture vs what it leaves out. I know it is not a single movie's job to try and represent *everything* about a given place, and I don't want to be unfair, but the Brooklyn that's shown is kind of earnest, twee, and maybe even financially out of the reach of a lot of people who live very close to where this movie was made (though there are a few lines about rent controlled apartments, and the fact that the trains don't go there). The filmmaker touched briefly on representation in the Q&A after the viewing, and I believe he was sincere in trying to make as inclusive and honest a film as possible, but even though he has apparently lived there for 13 years, I get the impression he hasn't necessarily had a lot of encounters with "the other side" of Red Hook. Or maybe he just didn't feel that was a part of this story. Fair enough; just my thoughts.