Genres

Visitors Review

2012-05-23 16:53:58

angina

If there is a great movie to be made about Jack Kerouac, and Neal and Carolyn Cassidy, this aint it. "Suggested" by Carolyn's memoirs, writer/director John Byrum's film degenerates into yet another adulterous husband saga. The idea that Carolyn has is that Neal is the muse for Kerouac's writing but since Jack knew Neal and had written On The Road before they met her, Carolyn's insight appears to be limited to the time Neal married her and they lived miserably in suburbia until Jack joined them for a menage a trois. Byrum's stabs at the stifling conservatism of America in the 50's is represented by neighbours of the Cassidy's who come for dinners. Their embarassment over Neal's deliberate rudeness is funnier than their apparent shock at the later threesome. The film proposes that it was Allen Ginsberg's notoriety which propelled publishers who had previously rejected his novel, to suddenly change their mind. The fact that Ginsberg is named Ira here (played by Ray Sharkey, giving the best performance of the cast) and that none of On The Road is heard seems to suggest that Byrum seems to be avoiding copyright problems. The film begins well and Laszlo Kovacs' yellow tint lighting gives it a dated look which is very appealing. An image of Neal sitting in a cafe recalls Edward Hopper. As Carolyn, Sissy Spacek is given a romantic entrance supported by a lovely Jack Nitzsche theme, and it's great to see her with a Veronica Lake hairdo and glamourised. But as soon as Jack and the Cassidy's separate, the energy drops and we get stuck in suburbia, while Jack toils the soil in Mexico, waiting. The notion that Neal has stolen Carolyn away from Jack seems unmotivated since we've hardly seen them together, but clearly this is needed to explain Jack's re-appearance. And the later scenes of Jack handly his fame badly seem surprising considering what a best seller the book is said to be. The interviews we see show hostile hosts. Where was Steve Allen, who was a mad On the Road fan? It is interesting to see how Carolyn believes that the Beat generation, with the berets and beards, is thought of as a bastardisation of Kerouac's ideology based on Neal's freedom, since Neal never presented such artifice. As Neal, Nick Nolte suggests a restless spirit though hardly a bisexual one, as is implied. We don't believe him when he keeps telling us how much he loves Spacek. She narrates and spars well though ultimately she remains an enigma. Perhaps the reason Byrum has used the word "suggested" and not adapted from the memoirs means that information which may have made her more interesting has been lost. John Heard makes Jack dull and ineffectual, and when he does show some life, Heard uses the yelling he would continue with in Cutter's Way before experience provided him with more subtlety. Carolyn tells us that Neal's weakness was his lack of committment and Jack's was his longing for it. At one point Neal tells Jack to get his own life to write about, and one questions whether a writer could complete a book as long as On the Road appears to be if there is nothing of himself in it. Since I haven't read the work, I cannot comment, but the Jack this film portrays sure doesn't make me want to.

2012-05-23 02:53:14

Watch but maybe cheaper and better viewing on VHS

Slight bias admittedly here as i consider myself a Beatnik of sorts and a fan of the Beats Generation. The vhs version of the film appears to be the same as the DVD Warner Archives issue. Could have been move verbose but considering there is a surprising few films on the topic I'd say must watch. Love the performances all around.

2012-05-20 18:59:56

Has Film Been Shortened For This DVD?

I bought the DVD because I remembered the movie fondly. But something is missing and there seems to be a false and sappy ending with Carolyn and Neal looking happy and entwined as they say farewell to Jack. When the film was shown on a movie cable channel years ago (20?), I recall additional later segments with scenes of Neal and the Merry Pranksters and one scene in particular where Carolyn arrives home from work as a costume designer and finds Neal and his "hippie" friends partying and wrecking her house. I can still see her (Sissy Spacek) sitting on a stool alone in her kitchen angry and thinking, trying to compose herself. She finally self-actualizes, gets up, and firmly tells them all to leave. She separates from Neal for good.

writenact 2012-05-20 09:33:27

For Fans of Nolte/Sharkey/Beats

This was a find with On-Demand. The price was right (free)and I couldwatch it without leaving the house, so nothing was lost except time.That being said, this is probably a film that fans of Nick Nolte, RaySharkey and Beat Generation culture would enjoy. Nolte is in the waningdays of his "pretty boy" phase, but he gives a gritty performance. RaySharkey's maniacal turn as Ira makes you wonder "what-if" all the more.The Beat Generation backdrop seems a little too clean at times, but itgets a fair shot. However, Sissy Spacek is handed a character that shecan't do anything with. This comes from the overly broad brush strokesthat the filmmaker uses, which leaves little room for Spacek to work.All in all, not a bad film; just not one for the ages.

jtdeclercq 2012-05-19 20:12:25

Heart Beat a masterpiece? Never...

I am amazed that so many people on this forum rate this movie as thepan-ultimate film regarding the 'Beat generation'. One comment evengoes as far to state that "to a Kerouac/Cassady fan and fan of that era( late 40s early 50s ) this is pure gold".Why, I wonder. Because as far as a depiction of reality goes (andreading the raving messages on this forum to many the essence of thisfilm is a fair picture of what actually took place), this film is atravesty if ever there was one. In my files I have (the translation of)an article written by Kenneth Turan in 1979 which contains an interviewwith the then 55 year old Carolyn Cassady. She says that when she firstread the script (by John Byrum), she was taken aback by theuntruthfulness's of it. Facts were distorted, characters twisted, andreading some of the dialogues, she said to herself: come off it, thisis a sham! However, she was paid 70.000 dollars plus 2,5 percent of thenett turnover, which was as good deal as she might have expected, andsoon enough she took to the script, false as it may have been. And why?"If this had been my real life, I'd have been satisfied with it". Also,she loves what Sissy Spaceck did with her part: "I am the true heroinof the story, what more could one want?" So much for character.Interestingly, Alan Ginsberg refused to cooperate with the film andforbade the producer even to use his name or quote from his poetry. Sothe Alan Ginsberg character in the movie is called Ira Streiker.I am 60 years old and read On the Road for the first time in 1969. Lastmonth, forty years later, I read it again. It was a weird experience...Kerouac's prose is baffling, he truly was a great writer, but theexperiences he describes in On the Road have no meaning whatsoever.Actually, Neal Cassady is a low life (Kerouac more than once refers tohim as "a rat"). And no biopic can change that.

2012-05-19 03:27:07

NO CHAPTER STOPS!!!

HEART BEAT is a wonderfully acted, beautifully filmed, superlatively scored movie about the Beat Generation's Jack Kerouac, Neal Cassady and Carolyn Cassady (whose memoir formed the basis for this film.) Unfortunately, it plays fast and loose with many facts. Despite that, it was my seeing this film in a theatre on its initial release that led me to a throrough study of Kerouac, Cassady, the Beats - so....enjoy the movie as a movie BASED on facts, but not itself as a history lesson. The image is widescreen, the colors and contrasts and audio all wonderful. But I have a complaint with the WB Archive Collection. This is the second movie I have released by the WB Archive Collection. (The other is the incredibly accurate and amazingly moving World War II drama OPERATION DAYBREAK). Both movies - both treasures - aren't even given a Menu with Chapter stops or additional Extras. To move forward in ten minutes jumps, one is directed to push their remote buttons. Shame!How much would it have cost Warner Brothers to put a little ART into the presentation of the films comprising their precious and priceless collection?I am thrilled with the fact that HEART BEAT and OPERATION DAYBREAK are on DVD at long last. But, come on, I have seen skid-row DVDs with artful intros to scene selections and extra featurettes that were many times better than the movies themselves!

ken2000 2012-05-15 17:35:27

It Works

Heart Beat is an excellent little film. All of the actors manage to capturetheir characters. Subtle dynamic between cassidy and kerouac without a lotof 'acting'. Altho ray sharkey is a bit nuts, i suspect his ginsberg is notfar off the mark. a good film & one i recommend.

Michael Neumann 2012-05-15 12:32:38

dead on arrival

Writer director John Byrun's Hollywood whitewash of the Beat Generationcompletely ignores its most conspicuous trait, settling for routineconformity over the uninhibited freedom, which gave the movement itsenergy and impetus. Instead of following their example the film tiptoesrespectfully through the rebellious antics of Jack Keruac and NeilCassidy, in tepid portraits calculated not to offend anyone, least ofall Carolyn Cassidy, whose memoirs inspired the film and whose blessingthe makers obviously courted. Nick Nolte (as Cassidy) fares best, butonly for lack of adequate comparison; John Heard's portrayal of Keruacmakes the over-indulgent writer seem a confused but nice young manunable to measure up to his own legend, and Byrun apparently neverbothered to give Sissy Spacek a character at all. Each is simply atwo-dimensional reduction of a historical archetype, and none is ableto save the film from cardiac arrest.

dougpeg 2012-05-14 11:58:21

Captures a time and mood like few others

This movie ranks third on the all-time best list by capturing at the sametime the dynamics of personal relationships and the paradigm shift inAmerican culture from the 1950s to 1960s. It helps in this case, not tohaveread the book before viewing the movie as the movie stands on its ownmerits. Those who are looking for the beatnik story will be disappointedasthis is a movie about relationships and how people suffer and long forcommitment in those relationships. One of the several forlorn charactersisAnn Dusenberry (stevie) who steals the show in her relatively brief screentime, giving the best film noirsh, look back from a window and uttering thegreatest jilted lover line of all-time ("I don't give a rusty f* for thatoranything else"). Nolte gives his best performance ever, he's made for theneal cassady (see rich man, poor man)role. John Heard also gives his bestperformance in this one while Spacek weighs in with one of her best ever.The look, feel and musical score all blend to capture uniquely a time andplace as well as relationship dynamics not often attempted let aloneachieved.

2012-05-14 08:06:41

heartbeat

This review is from: Heart Beat (DVD) Was SO happy to finally find this on DVD. I Love anything Keouac, saw this on TV a decade ago...can't wait to see it agqain, thrilled to own it!

2012-05-06 20:12:26

My Last WB Archives Purchase

This review is from: Heart Beat (DVD) This is the fifth Warner Bros Archives film I've purchased and it's definitely going to be the last. The quality of all five classic movies has been terrible. DVD's skip, soundtrack volumes yoyo and all the scenes, even those which were originally brightly lit are so dark that viewers can't distinguish which actors are on camera, what the locations are, or whether shots were taken in bright sunlight or dimly-lit rooms. As other reviewers have commented, "Heart Beat" isn't the most factual account of the beat generation's driving forces but it's an enjoyable movie nonetheless and it deserves better presentation than this. At an msrp of almost $30 a film should be superior to the ones sold for a buck in dollar stores and this one certainly isn't. Come on, Warner Bros, if you want serious money for your films get serious about the quality of what you offer for sale.

moonspinner55 2012-05-06 13:50:29

Near-brilliant production design and art direction; the rest is middling...

Fictionalized account of the friendship between writers Nick Cassadyand Jack Kerouac, members of the so-called Beat Generation of the late1950s. Writer-director John Byrum takes a sketchy, connect-the-dotsapproach to these famous people, and his opaque screenplay, adaptedfrom Carolyn Cassady's memoirs, leaves the actors (Nick Nolte asCassady, John Heard as Kerouac, Sissy Spacek as Carolyn) often lookingas if they haven't been clued-in. There are moments when the cast andthe well-realized surroundings warrant far more interest than the storyor the dialogue, and that's a weak obstacle in a film about writers.The film is also extremely somber, with only bits and pieces of quirkyhumor (thanks to a supporting turn by Ray Sharkey) to elevate thedepressive air of self-conceit. Visually impressive production, solidwork from the men, but Spacek's role is underwritten. ** from ****