Brian Wilson has become recognized as a true innovator &
musical icon for his work with The Beach Boys & as a solo artist. The word genius gets thrown around pretty
casually these days, but that’s an apt description of Brian’s talent. Sadly,
Wilson suffered a lot during his life. He endured a lot of pain & suffered from mental health issues before finding
peace & contentment. He's now restored & rejuvenated, and touring again this summer. The new film Love & Mercy attempts (and largely
succeeds) to give us a window into the mind & world of this brilliant,
troubled, sometimes misunderstood artist. The film moves back & forth
between two critical time periods in Brian’s life; the 1960s, when he was the
leader & chief songwriter for The Beach Boys, and the 1980s, when he was under
the thumb of Dr. Eugene Landy, a psychiatrist whose control over &
obsession with Brian reached dangerous levels.
In the 1960s scenes, we see Brian (played by Paul Dano) retire
from touring with the immensely popular Beach Boys. He stays behind to write & produce new music for the group. Inspired by exciting new music like The Beatles groundbreaking album Rubber Soul, Brian
wants to move away from the pop tunes The Beach Boys are famous for, and
create songs & sounds using new styles & techniques. There are some excellent scenes
that recreate Brian at work in the studio with the famous group of backing musicians known as The Wrecking
Crew. They're collaborating with Brian & recording the backing tracks for what will become the now classic album Pet Sounds. When the rest of the group
return from the road, Brian plays them back the work he’s done, and asks them to
help record the vocals. This begins a rift within the band, when some members,
especially Mike Love, are against this new direction for the group. But Brian wants
to continue, and take the musical transformation even further on their next record, Smile, which is eventually cancelled during the long studio sessions for the record. This causes more strife within the band, even though they work together with Brian on the "Good Vibrations" single, which becomes a tremendous success.
The portions of the story set in the 1960s alternate with
scenes set in the 1980s, where Brian (now played by John Cusack) is struggling to
overcome years of depression and drug use & deal with the emotional fallout of his turbulent youth, growing up with his
abusive father. He's under the care of psychiatrist Dr. Eugene Landy, played by Paul Giamatti.
Brian meets Melinda Ledbetter (Elizabeth Banks, who's excellent in the role) while trying to buy a car, and
they begin a tentative relationship. The sheltered, fragile Brian is
completely dominated by Landy, who approves & supervises all access to
Brian, and monitors him at all times. Landy also keeps Brian away from his family, and has him deeply medicated
for what he says are Brian’s serious mental issues. Melinda begins to suspect
that the doctor’s methods are hurting Brian more than helping him, and tries to
contact Brian’s family to get help in freeing him from Landy’s control.
Dano is amazing as the young Brian; he doesn’t act the role
so much as he inhabits it. He even
sings solo in a pivotal scene. Dano brilliantly conveys Brian’s musical genius
& fragile emotional state; his work is truly phenomenal. Cusack
is very good as the older Brian, and accurately portrays the older Brian's personality & state of mind. But at times his familiarity to us (from his
many previous roles) reminds us that this is John Cusack playing Brian Wilson. Still, he has some effective moments, and has really wonderful chemistry with Wilson as Ledbetter, whom Brian eventually married.
Between the two actors, you get a real sense of Brian’s complex psyche.
Giamatti has some creepy, chilling moments as Dr. Landy, and even if his
performance occasionally veers into one note villainy, you get a very real idea of just
how much this possessive, horrible person took over Brian’s life, and caused him great harm.
Of course, we get to hear a lot of music in the film, and
see recreations of some famous moments in the career of the Beach Boys.
Director Bill Pohlad and his crew have also put together some well-done sequences using
visuals and sound to show us what’s going on in Brian’s head, and how he perceives things. There are some minor
flaws: the rest of the band is portrayed in the background, and you don’t
always get a strong sense of their characters or identities. The 1970s (when
Brian’s tailspin into darkness became more pronounced) is mostly skipped over,
though there are a couple of references to those years. But Oren Moverman &
Michael A. Lerner’s screenplay truly gives us some insights into this complex, but impressive artist, who
most people know through the wonderful music he’s given us. Brian Wilson was a
man ahead of his time, and the rest of the rock & roll world finally
caught up with him. Love & Mercy
is currently in theaters, and is highly recommended. Here’s a link to the film’s
trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lioWzrpCtGQ.
