Cinemaphile
by Joanne Sargent
The Shuswap Film Society looks forward to welcoming you back to our fall movie season after our summer hiatus. Our film selection committee has been working hard and has managed to secure some great films for your viewing pleasure. Our first presentation on Saturday, Sept. 8 at 5 p.m. is Hearts Beat Loud, a feel-good father-daughter drama.
The story centres around Frank (Nick Offerman), a longtime widower and record store owner in Red Hook, Brooklyn, and his soon-to-be college-bound daughter, Sam (a delightful Kiersey Clemons). Frank is facing some major life transitions: an empty nest, a beloved business on the verge of closing, and a mother (Blythe Danner) on the verge of senility. To the chagrin of his more-mature-than-him daughter, his way of coping is to drink (sometimes to excess), curse, and hang out with a philosophical pothead bartender (Ted Danson).
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But Frank and Sam have a loving, respectful relationship, and their shared passion of music has been the glue that has held them together. He’s a one-time professional guitarist and drummer, she’s a talented singer and songwriter, and they sound great together. One jam session yields an uptempo love ballad called Hearts Beat Loud, a song Sam wrote for her new girlfriend, Rose. Frank uploads it to Spotify, it goes viral, and suddenly they’re getting performance and recording offers. Frank hopes to rekindle his long-nurtured musical aspirations, and urges Sam to write and perform with him, thereby stalling her college plans. Because, as one reviewer facetiously said, “what young woman wouldn’t want to forgo college for the chance to be in a band with her dad?”
This movie gently charts the last days of this parent-daughter’s togetherness pre-college, as both learn to let life take its course. In the end, it’s Frank who grows up, learns to accept and support Sam’s dream, and finds a new life and love (Toni Colette). It speaks of how we grow and change and what we take with us as we begin a new chapter.
With good performances and a great soundtrack, Hearts Beat Loud is a perfect movie to start our new season. It’s showing at the Salmar Classic and doors open at 4:15.
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