Directed by: Bill Pohlad
Starring: Paul Dano, John Cusack, Elizabeth Banks, Paul Giamatti, Jake Abel
Love and Mercy tells the story of Beach Boy Brian Wilson in two separate, yet distinct periods of his life. He is also played by two different actors which turns into one seamless look at this tortured artist. Bedeviled with mental illness since his early 20's, Wilson nonetheless was the driving force behind The Beach Boys early songs, slowly evolving to Pet Sounds, and then Good Vibrations, which I personally consider as their masterpiece. Wilson's mind continually worked on overdrive. Ideas, thoughts, and voices run in and out of his head at a dizzying pace. While the rest of The Beach Boys were touring Japan, he stayed behind in California composing the expansive and complex instrumentals for the group's next album. Wilson saw The Beatles as both an inspiration and measuring stick. The Pet Sounds album was a direct attempt by Wilson to top them. The rest of the band was happy making simple tunes that went gold. Brian was well past writing Surfin' USA by that time.
Paul Dano and John Cusack both play Wilson. Dano plays him during The Beach Boys years in which he was evolving into a distinct musical force. Cusack plays him in the mid-80's, years in which he is no longer performing or writing and under the tyrannical care of Dr. Eugene Landy (Giamatti), who exerts a Svengali-like control over him. Brian meets a pretty car salesperson named Melinda (Banks) who under normal circumstances would be his girlfriend. Landy makes it quite clear that her welcome will wear out soon. He sees Melinda as more of a threat to his control over Wilson than anything else. She begins to realize that Dr. Landy keeps Brian overmedicated and sees him as a meal ticket. Is Dr. Landy's diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia even accurate? We have to wonder.
In both Dano's and Cusack's performances, we see a man at war with his inner demons. His battle is lonely and quiet. He keeps within himself. He is not prone to violence or outbursts. He does not become insufferable, just desperate and confused. His relationships with both his father and Dr. Landy are abusive. He sees Melinda through his haze as a way to a possibly normal life. (Or as normal as a Brian Wilson could envision). She is sweet to him and cares for him, but also cautiously falls for him, knowing full well he is no position to carry on a meaningful relationship under heavy sedation and under Landy's thumb. It is touching and almost altruistic how she fights to wrest control of him from Dr. Landy. Her motives are not selfish. She knows full well that Brian's mental health is more important than any future relationship.
Watching Brian create the sounds of Pet Sounds and Good Vibrations take on a fascination of their own. Few films would have the patience to watch an artist coax a creation out of himself and others. The studio musicians he hires are among the best in the world and are instructed to play their instruments in ways they didn't think possible. Most movies' view of the creative process show an external inspiration which leads to a flash of genius. Voila!! A song is created as if dictated from the heavens themselves. Wilson's vision of his songs were understandable to him and he painstakingly made others understand it. This took time. Good Vibrations took seven months to record. No wonder. Wilson's frequent arguments within The Beach Boys are with his cousin and co-founder Mike Love (Abel), who would love nothing more than to write safe pop songs that would continue to enrich the group's wallets. Is he wrong for thinking this way? Not at all. The movie doesn't turn Love into a villain while putting Wilson on a pedestal. We see that their visions of the group no longer meshed as time went on. "We feel like we are backup singers in the Brian Wilson Band," he tells Brian. We also feel for Brian's brothers' concerns about his well-being.
I confess I didn't know much of Brian Wilson's story except for the outlines, such as his battles with mental illness, drugs, and his estrangement from his family and The Beach Boys. While certainly there are scenes here which are exaggerated for dramatic effect, Love and Mercy is a superior biopic. It is rare a biopic takes such care to show why Brian Wilson is heralded as a pioneer in rock music. It takes as much care in showing why the same demons that drove him to create are the same ones that led to his isolation.
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