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(More customer reviews)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.
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