Context of "hit the beats"

Posted by Bob on May 29, 2005

In Reply to: Context of "hit the beats" posted by Kashima on May 29, 2005

: : Could someone help me with the meaning of the word "hit the beats", please?

: : Thanks in advance.

: Sorry, I should have explained the context. I found this phrase "hit the beats" in a DVD commentary where a film director is talking about the characters in his film. A son and his father, who are not on good terms, have to travel together for a certain reason. Since there is a sad history between them(the father left his son when he was a baby), so there's a lot of conflict and frustration between them, but at the end, the truth is revealed, and the son begins to understand him. The director explains his intension like this:
: "Just letting them(the father and the son) hit the beats as they sniffed around each other and pushed away, and making sure that when they came together they was a sense that they were coming together in an organic and truthful and honest way. And the only way that was going to happen is if they also had a chance to articulate some of their frustrations with one another."
: What does "hit the beats" mean in this context?

It sounds like a musical reference. To get into a rhythm, to say the expected things, to go through the motions, to be in sync with each other ... so that they are sympathetic enough to say the important things.