Brian Wilson biopic: Love and Mercy

Discussion in 'Visual Arts' started by Vidiot, Apr 17, 2013.

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  1. She is anyway

    She is anyway Well-Known Member

    Location:
    Minnesota, USA
    I thought he was great as Harvey Pekar in American Splendor.
     
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  2. vince

    vince Stan Ricker's son-in-law

    Seeing him play such an evil **** makes me want to watch "John Adams" again, just to see him play a positive person!
    Hopefully, HBO will be showing the mini-series this 4th of July, like they've done for the past few years!
     
  3. Jason Manley

    Jason Manley Senior Member

    Location:
    O-H-I-O
    This past weekend was the 'wide' release, 792 theaters, up from previous 580 (rough) 480 (rough) the previous two weekends in 'limited' release. As an estimate it apparently made just about what it made last weekend, while still in 'limited' release.

    I suspect you're about right. Probably another 2 weeks or so and the wait for Blu-Ray/DVD/Digital begins.
     
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  4. davenav

    davenav High Plains Grifter

    Location:
    Louisville, KY USA
    I'm just so glad they got this story right. I've talked to a lot of people, especially musicians, who want to see it based on the overwhelmingly positive reviews.

    I must say, I never thought I'd see this day, especially considering the ignorant-as-**** comments that get made about Brian on message boards, even ones devoted to him. There's a lot of armchair psychologists out there.
     
  5. Bruce M.

    Bruce M. Forum Resident

    Location:
    Hilo, HI, USA
    I had much the same reaction. I seriously choked up and might have actually started crying had the idiots seated behind me not started jabbering loudly, totally breaking the mood. This is a truly outstanding film. Seriously, go see it and spread the word. It deserves to do well and not get lost among the summer special-effects blockbusters.
     
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  6. kwadguy

    kwadguy Senior Member

    Location:
    Cambridge, MA
    Finally got to see this today, when my daughter took me for Father's Day.

    Very good movie, and even my daughter (who knows little/nothing of the background story) liked it.

    My main criticisms would be that almost all the supporting characters in the young Brian parts were ghosts or cardboard characters. Mike Love got fleshed out a wee bit, but just enough to indicate that the band wasn't behind Brian's forays. I suppose this is the price you pay to make a biopic where some of the participants are still alive and you need master and sync rights. And Melinda is presented as pretty much a saint. Which I suppose she might be, but most people in the real world are more nuanced than that.

    I didn't have any problem with two actors playing Brian. And the studio scenes were amazingly well done, as many others have noted.
     
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  7. balzac

    balzac Senior Member

    Going back months and months, I was worried the portrayal of Melinda might be too Hollywood-ized and overblown. But Brian’s friend Ray Lawlor posted over on the Smiley Smile board a few months back a more detailed description of the role Melinda played in extracting Brian from Landy. It included information that has never been published, even in the Timothy White and Peter Ames Carlin books. Given that information (which I can’t fault anybody for having not previously known; I certainly didn’t), if anything Melinda’s role is downplayed in the film simply due to time compression. A lot of the biographies and career summaries usually give the “credit” so to speak to Brian’s immediately family including Carl. But Melinda actually played much more of an active role in the whole debacle.

    She doesn’t come across as a “saint” in the film in my opinion. She serves in the film a bit as the viewer, sort of the outsider looking in and seeing how crazy the world of Landy is. She doesn’t even really come across as desperately, madly in love with Brian in the film. She seems bemused by him at first, and then a mixture of caring and almost pity motivates her to try to extricate him.
     
  8. wdp33

    wdp33 Forum Resident

    Location:
    NH
  9. steelydanguy

    steelydanguy Forum Resident

    Saw the movie a couple of weeks ago. I rarely go to the theater (my other hobbies take up too much of my time, I guess), but I really enjoyed "Love and Mercy."

    I'm in my mid-30s, and I've been a big Beach Boys fan -- and more specifically, of Brian Wilson -- since my late teens. But I also brought a family member who grew up in that 1960s era and wasn't necessarily a huge fan per se, and she really liked the movie as well.

    I know a lot about the Beach Boys' mid-1960s era from collecting that music and reading articles and books. (A few years back, I tracked down a copy of David Leaf's "The Beach Boys and The California Myth," which is an excellent Brian Wilson/Beach Boys bio but only takes you up to the mid-1980s). I think "Love and Mercy" really captured the mid-1960s Beach Boys well: Paul Dano definitely had the look and feel of Brian Wilson down, the Mike Love and Murray Wilson characters felt realistic, the clothing all looked correct for that era, the studio scenes with the Wrecking Crew were outstanding and felt true to life, etc.

    Going into the movie, I knew less about how Brian escaped Dr. Eugene Landy's clutches with Melinda's help, but that part of the movie that was set in the 1980s was equally interesting and well-done to me. While John Cusack only resembles Brian Wilson in height, he had Brian's mannerisms and personality down to a tee. Because of that, the lack of facial resemblance didn't bother me.

    All in all, I strongly recommend this movie for Beach Boys/Brian Wilson fans and non-fans -- it's just a good, touching movie overall that anyone can enjoy. And as has been mentioned, when they break into the concert footage of Brian Wilson singing "Love and Mercy" at the very end of the film, your eyes will likely start to tear up.
     
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  10. Dee Zee

    Dee Zee Once Upon a Dream

  11. davenav

    davenav High Plains Grifter

    Location:
    Louisville, KY USA
    A really fine article!
     
  12. Bruce M.

    Bruce M. Forum Resident

    Location:
    Hilo, HI, USA
    I don't think they were that cardboard, I just think that they didn't have enough screen time to be fleshed out in depth. Those are the sorts of choices you have to make when telling a complex story in 2 hours or less, and overall I think the filmmakers did it well. And I'll second the motion about being not at all bothered by Cusack's lack of physical resemblance to Wilson. He got the essence of a very troubled soul, and made his performance seem like a natural extension of Dano's. Seriously, folks, if you haven't seen this yet, get to a theater soon -- it won't be around that long, sadly.
     
  13. Bill

    Bill Senior Member

    Location:
    Eastern Shore
    Nice RS article. Thanks for posting it.
     
  14. Doctorwu

    Doctorwu Senior Member

    Saw it today, left the cinema teary eyed, the beach boys music means so much to me, this film did it justice, watch it before it's gone.
     
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  15. vince

    vince Stan Ricker's son-in-law

    Was never a fan... and it STILL touched me!
     
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  16. Jason Manley

    Jason Manley Senior Member

    Location:
    O-H-I-O
    Saw it for a fifth time this morning, this time at a different theater for a change. All of my viewings have been at AMC theaters. This one I went to today had reclining leather seats, that was a nice change of pace.

    I was looking on some movie site and as of Friday I think the movie will be down to 2 theaters in my city (from the peak of 6, this past weekend).

    Pretty sure I'll go back for at least one more viewing before it is completely gone. This morning already marked the most times I've seen a film in a theater. Previous personal record was THE THIN RED LINE in 1999, 4 times.

    [​IMG]
     
  17. Daniel Plainview

    Daniel Plainview God's Lonely Man



    I love this clip. Watch as Brian just hands out vocal parts like candy. He really does have 10 part harmonies running through his head all at once.

    I hope L&M is released on home video soon. Cant wait to see it again.
     
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  18. My only multi theater going as an adult in the past 25 years for the same film was Kill Bill. 4 times
     
  19. Jose Jones

    Jose Jones Outstanding Forum Member

    Location:
    Detroit, Michigan
    I refuse to go see Jurassic World. Ban CGI!
     
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  20. Jason Manley

    Jason Manley Senior Member

    Location:
    O-H-I-O
  21. Dee Zee

    Dee Zee Once Upon a Dream

    I'm liking the new album the more it plays.
     
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  22. kwadguy

    kwadguy Senior Member

    Location:
    Cambridge, MA
    I was thinking about this movie some more today, and I think one thing it could have used was a scene or two of Brian in high school. Brian was well adjusted (to outside appearances) at that point, quarterbacking, running track, performing, etc. Almost from the start of the movie we see "broken" (but high functioning) Brian (the panic attack on the airplane, etc.). A lot of viewers not versed in Brianology aren't aware that there was a pretty normal, and physically quite fit, Brian before it started to turn. I think a scene or two in high school would have driven home even more powerfully how much he had fallen/changed over the years.

    One of the questions my daughter (who knows nothing about Brian but who saw the movie with me) asked after the movie was: Was Brian ALWAYS weird?
     
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  23. kwadguy

    kwadguy Senior Member

    Location:
    Cambridge, MA
    Where's that clip from? Is that the state of the only extant copy at this point, or is there a film or better video copy somewhere?

    I always get sad watching this kind of thing, since, while it's already into the second (or is it third) Brian era, you can tell he's still engaged, still in charge.
     
  24. balzac

    balzac Senior Member

    That's from the unreleased half hour documentary the band prepared for the "MIU Album" in 1978, titled "Our Team." Likely because the album tanked, and perhaps because the documentary featured at least two songs that were cut from the album before it was released, the documentary was never aired. All "circulating" copies appear to be numerous generations from the source. There may be a copy that looks better than that YouTube clip, but nothing approaching good quality has appeared among fans as far as I know.

    I would assume the BB's have all that footage in their vault, as I believe they commissioned the "documentary" themselves. I think a few cutaway shots from those sessions is seen in the "Endless Harmony" documentary as well.
     
  25. misko

    misko Forum Resident

    Location:
    Philadelphia, Pa.
    Reading these posts is the reason I will see this film. Moreover, Paul G. is certainly a true credit to his craft. I purchased John Adams on dvd because of his performance. Acting is such a odd art form. One day you see this incredible talent in the HBO mini series and the Wilson film, and then you see the very same actor in some cgi rhino get up in Spider Man.
     
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