HEART BEAT (1980) ¢ ¢ ¢
D: John Byrum
Nick Nolte, Sissy Spacek, John Heard,
Ray Sharkey, Ann Dusenberry, Tony Bill,
Kent Williams, John Larroquette, Steve Allen
"The war had been over about five years. A new decade had begun. And we were just three Americans." The war that had ended was World War Two. The new decade was the 1950s. And the three Americans were Neal and Carolyn Cassady and their friend Jack Kerouac. As the movie looks in on them, Carolyn's going to art school. Jack's writing and trying to publish "On the Road". Neal's working for the railroad and doing real well to keep his car-stealing ass out of jail. They all end up sharing a house in the suburbs, and Byrum gets some easy laughs out of the cultural clash between these Charlie Parker bohemians and their Perry Como neighbors. There's a great movie waiting to be made about the Beats - actually, "Howl" was pretty good - and if "Heart Beat" doesn't quite get there, at least it's an interesting attempt. Heard is especially good as the lost, diffident Kerouac, and Ray Sharkey turns up briefly as Allen Ginsberg. Evocative jazz score by Jack Nitzsche. Based on a memoir by Carolyn Cassady.
John Heard
(1946-2017)
