Review of Hearts Beat Loud (2018) by Hector V — 22 Aug 2018

Nick Offerman's a hard-working guy. You'd be surprised how extensive his acting career has gotten as he churns out indie and television roles like a madman every year. He's also got a pretty prestigious woodworking business in LA to boot. All this hard work translates to some hits, some decent flicks, and almost never a dud. Hearts Beat Loud is somewhere in between there, an upbeat, occasionally trite film that provides a good enough, albeit forgettable time.

Hearts Beat Loud has a great premise going for it. The musical angle the film takes is really fun when it and the Nick Offerman-Kiersey Clemons father-daughter pair take the narrative focus. Their bonding moments are touching, and Offerman and Clemons sell Frank and Sam's relationship really well while the music the two produce together is easy to jam to.

Though these moments of kinship are breezily pleasant, the two lead characters are unfortunately pretty unlikeable. Offerman and Clemons both give strong performances, but the writing of their characters veers into boring, unengaging territory when Frank and Sam are apart. Sam is particularly unlikeable with her cold, "adulty" attitude towards Frank's endearingly childish mannerisms, and her relationship with her girlfriend isn't nearly as remarkable as that with her dad. Yeah, it's clear she needs her independence and wants to make a future stronger than what her father was able to achieve, but Clemons and the script make her snarky coldness upsetting and unpleasant.

On the other hand, Frank has some charming moments as he flirts with his landlady, amiably played by Toni Collette, and the ensuing relationship is actually quite pleasant. Unfortunately, some obvious turns eventually develop an existential crisis for Frank that gets old quickly and doesn't find new ground as it treads through alcoholic stints filled with drudging clichés. It also harshes the otherwise fun, bouncy vibe the film had going for it earlier.

The film is at its best when it taps into Frank and Sam's father-daughter relationship. Offerman and Clemons shine when the two are allowed to peal back their characters' annoying flaws and just have a good time, especially when Keegan DeWitt's awesome score and soundtrack take the stage.

Good music and mostly good vibes make Hearts Beat Loud a solidly emotional, entertaining film frequently great in its uniqueness, but one that's also mired down with a fair amount of stale movie beats.