Customer Reviews

Heart Beat [VHS]

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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.

I won't even pretend to be an expert on the Beat movement. I read "On the Road" in college but it didn't leave a lasting imprataur on me. Ditto for Burroughs' "Naked Lunch" which I couldn't get through. I did read Tom Wolfe's account of the Merry Pranksters, "The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test" as well as Lenny Bruce's bio and enjoyed them thoroughly. I didn't approach "Heart Beat" with high expectations and they were more than transcended. Director John Byrum's film has it's own jazzy rhythms that make it unique and unto itself. We see Jack Kerouac(John Heard) and the Cassadys (Nick Nolte and Sissy Spacek) not as leaders of a movement but rugged individualists who defy the norm and go to the beat of their own muses. The film is immeasurably helped by a powerhouse performance by Nolte as Neal Cassady, a real charmer who may be a ne'er-do-well or a rebel. Heard and Spacek are good in more subdued turns as the friend and spouse who at times are repelled then embrace Neal's antics. The late Ray Sharkey gives a great turn as an Allen Ginsburg type as does John Larroquette as a conservative TV host. Terrific period detail from art designer Jack Fisk, Spacek's real-life husband, and gorgeous score from Jack Nietzche. I remember this film received lukewarm critical and commercial success at the time of it's release but it is definitely a film ahead of it's time.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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!