Love & Mercy, the Brian Wilson biopic that shows two time periods of The Beach Boys’ life’s most recognizable face, is one of the most underrated movies of 2015. Forget whatever you know or think you know about Brian Wilson. For me, that was absolutely nothing. I knew he was a member of The Beach Boys, but that was about it. After seeing this movie, I’m not really a fan of The Beach Boys, but I have a new appreciation for the band, especially for Brian Wilson. While the band is known for its carefree car tunes like Surfin USA, I Get Around, and California Girls, not all were as peachy as I thought. I’ve always considered The Beach Boys one of those bands that didn’t have a lot of substance in their songs. Not being a Mr. Happy Go Lucky type guy and having been to the beaches of California only a couple of times, I couldn’t relate to their music like I could a Tom Petty or Bruce Springsteen. Their songs, to me, were just that. Peachy. While I will not go out and buy their entire anthology, I will listen to some of their songs, which I might not have in the past. Initially, I had no intention of seeing this movie. I thought it was a documentary at first. But I’m glad I decided to see it. Every fan of the band and everyone who enjoys a good biopic should go out and see this movie.

The rise and fall and rise again of Brian Wilson. The movie goes back and forth between two of the most tumultuous periods of the singer’s life and is done with such precision that you would think that director Bill Pohlad has been doing this for years. But while he has been producing movies for years, this was his directorial debut. The two periods in this piece are the mid-1960s and the late 1980s. We’ll start in the mid-60s when The Beach Boys are releasing three albums each year while touring nationwide. We meet the young Wilson (played in mesmerizing fashion by Paul Dano – There Will Be Blood, 12 Years a Slave), who doesn’t seem to be able to embrace the early successes of his career like his other four bandmates.

A panic attack on an airplane leads to a conversation where he can somehow convince his brothers to continue the tour without him while he stays at home and writes more music that he promises will be the best they have ever produced. The 24-year-old prodigy single-handedly writes, directs, and produces the first tracks of “Pet Sounds,” an album first greeted with lukewarm critical and commercial reception but has since been deemed by many as the greatest album ever made. Wilson understands the potential greatness of the album. He remains rooted in the cause even when others in the band express disapproval because of their lack of inclusion in the vocals (to be fair, many of the tracks include the other musicians playing instruments while the band does very little). The film then skips around a little bit, but we learn that bouts with drugs, including LSD, take their toll on Brian and many other band members. Brian soon starts hearing voices. This leads to his music and lyrics not making sense and ultimately to a breakdown, in which Brian spends the better part of three years in bed.

Flash forward to the 1980s, we see Brian Wilson (played now by John Cusack – Say Anything, Identity), who is 20 years older and clearly under the influence of something. He looks almost like he is in a comatose state. We learn that his controlling psychologist, Landy (Paul Giamatti – Sideways, Cinderella Man), is overmedicating Brian, who has also been diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic. As a result, Wilson cannot make even the easiest of decisions without first being counseled by Landy. There have been some highly unlikable characters in film this year (Tom Hardy in The Revenant, Sean Bridges in Room, Michael Shannon in 99 Homes, and Adam Driver in Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens, to name a few), but Giamatti is right up there with them with his mind manipulation, his ill-temper, and his two-faced approach. Giamatti can play a great bad guy, and he makes us sympathize with Cusack’s Wilson even more. Landy is a man whom everyone fears. Yet, nobody is willing to confront him.

Elizabeth Banks (Catching Fire, The Lego Movie) plays Melinda, a Cadillac salesperson who doesn’t know Brian’s fame. The two have a conversation about a car he wants to purchase. He wins her over in just a few minutes, even though it’s clear to everyone, including her, that not everything is right. But she is compassionate and takes a chance with him. Her love and mercy (pardon the pun) are the best things that ever happened to him, despite his commercial success as a music artist. Her empathy towards this man who has captured her heart with sincerity, passion, and love helps bring Brian back from the dead.

The writing for Love & Mercy is outstanding, the direction is fantastic, and the acting is phenomenal. I’ve mentioned in my reviews that I am in awe when a movie can smoothly and effectively go back and forth between two time periods. Unfortunately, I’ve seen the flipside of this. Movies that try to go back and forth between two (or more) periods can become utter disasters. Cusack has been acting for the last four decades, and I don’t know if he’s ever been more compelling. With apologies to There Will Be Blood, Dano gives the performance of his career. You can feel both of these characters’ dread, despair, and confusion. Banks and Giamatti add to this powerful ensemble. Though indifferent about The Beach Boys, this movie has compelled me to learn more. I will undoubtedly go and listen to “Pet Sounds” in its entirety. While Love & Mercy rushes to its conclusion, I’m not going to let this minor triviality get in the way of what was a captivating and educational film.

Fans of any of these four main actors in this movie should see it, as should fans of The Beach Boys. This film is worth a second watch. I plan on watching it again and may adjust some of what I say in this review.

Plot 9/10 (Wilson’s had a long life…I think we got two fascinating components of that life in this movie)
Character Development 9/10 (I had a solid understanding of Wilson at the beginning and in the middle…I had a little less knowledge at the end…I’m not sure I liked the way it ended…it was a rapid ending…I would have liked a longer epilogue.
Character Chemistry 9/10 (Giamatti is a scene-stealer…Cusack and Banks are a wonderful onscreen couple)
Acting 10/10 (Dano has never been better, and Cusack is as you’ve never seen him before…Giamatti is a ruthless jerk, and Banks’ tenderness shows just how great a person Melinda must be)
Screenplay 9.5/10 (I can only imagine how difficult it was to pick and choose what to include in this movie. You are taking an American legend and trying to show two critical parts of his life in just two hours…the screenplay worked for me, and Pohlad’s directing was masterful)
Directing  10/10 (see above)
Cinematography 9/10 (great effort was taken to show the two decades showcased here)
Sound 10/10 (this sort of hout saying)
Hook and Reel 9/10 (it’s slow, but it never drags…I thought the transitions between the two time periods were very well done)
Universal Relevance 10/10 (perhaps the most iconic band in American history)
94.5%

A

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