Overview
In the hip Brooklyn neighborhood of Red Hook, single dad and record store owner Frank is preparing to send his hard-working daughter Sam off to college while being forced to close his vintage shop. Hoping to stay connected through their shared musical passions, Frank urges Sam to turn their weekly jam sessions into a father-daughter live act. After their first song becomes an internet breakout, the two embark on a journey of love, growing up and musical discovery.
What do you do when you are serious about starting college, but your dad is trying to (re)live his music crisis dreams through you?
Frank (a grumpily charming Nick Offerman) owns a small record shop in Brooklyn selling good ol’ vinyl, and is the widowed father of Sam (a promising Kiersey Clemons). Sam is keen to start her pre-med studies in California soon, and spends her free time pre-studying for her pre-med classes. Frank has music on his mind and tries to get Sam to jam with him. Sam has a blossoming love for her girlfriend Rose, which inspires her to write, and when she does jam with Frank they create a great tune. Frank is so excited he uploads it to Spotify and they end up on the New Indie Playlist.
Frank is keen for Sam to at least delay her studies and see where music might take them together; Sam however doesn’t want to be in a band, and certainly not together with her dad. In the meantime Frank’s shop isn’t doing too well and may need to close, and for Sam starting her studies at UCLA would mean leaving Rose behind.
This is a lovely warm small movie, which delivers exactly what it says on the tin – it is full of heart and music, with great leads and welcome supporting roles by Toni Collette as Frank’s landlord and Ted Danson as the local stoner barkeep. On the one hand it is all pretty sweet, but there some potentially ‘big’ themes at play, which the movie dances around in a very light-footed and understated way; this may at times feel a bit superficial but it also keeps it level-headed and leaves it up to the viewer to decide if they want to consider things any deeper.
Try and watch it with a decent sound system – the music is , of course, not just a supporting soundtrack, but the glue of the story.
★★★½