Brian Wilson biopic: Love and Mercy

There was a longish montage at the beginning showing Brian having fun in the early days of the Beach Boys, and we saw Brian being focused in the studio. I think that was enough to show the place he was falling off from.

The movie was successful because they focused on two key periods. I think if they'd started going "what about a scene in high school" and so on, that focus would get lost and they'd be trying to cover too much.

 

I hear you and basically agree but it's so tough to accommodate all the stuff we want in two hours. I want a three hour directors cut!

 

I guess the same could be said about "Immortal Beloved"; the film about Beethoven.
In that movie, we also get a scene in which a father beats the crap out of his son, destroying his hearing.

 

Great article. That actually lifted my spirits quite a bit, and made me feel a lot better about Brian's current mental state. He seems as (relatively) well-balanced as he's been in years.

 

For Giamatti fans, I highly recommend seeking out his recent appearance on "Inside Amy Shumer," in the "12 Angry Men" parody. Talk about a tour de force! (Most definitely NSFW, but maybe the funniest thing I've seen on TV all year.)

 

Although, as I posted in the No Pier Pressure thread, the picture painted of Brian in the article doesn't mesh at all with the ongoing presentation of Brian on his records as someone who still writes and produces music.

 

Landy: "More No-Noise, Brian!!!! Do you hear me, more No-Noise!!!!!! Or there will be consequences!"

 

I get the impression that many/most of his "new" songs are basically completed by others from bits of melodies and other fragments that Brian comes up with. I doubt he actually sits down and pens an entire song, fully-formed, beginning to end anymore.

 

"You just THINK it sounds like ****!!!!"

 

THIS.

If you're a fan of someone being depicted in a biopic, the general "hit all the high points" approach can be fun, but for the average viewer, it can seriously compromise narrative, theme, and drama. The whole of a person's life seldom brings out theme as much as a selected moment in time or a short period. Looking back at the last Oscar race, compare "The Imitation Game" to "The Theory of Everything."

 

http://www.chicagotribune.com/enter...musical-biopics-ignored-20150625-column.html

 

Mike Love on Love & Mercy: "You know, I can’t really comment on that because I have not seen it."
But sure enough he proceeds to bash the film anyway. He should see it before he condemns it. He might be pleasantly surprised.

IMO Mike Love is fairly portrayed. He comes off as quite funny and loving towards Brian. And no it doesn't show him trying to stop "Pet Sounds" from being released. He does have artistic doubts with Brian but what band doesn't have creative tension? And it shows him being very supportive of Brian doing "Good Vibrations." Also, the scenes showing Love wanting "Smile" to be abandoned come off as rational. Mainly because Brian is so obviously out of his mind on drugs and paranoid. Carl and Dennis were concerned too. And in the film, Brian seems to be aware that trying to finish "Smile" is driving him nuts. So he decides to scrap it.

Lastly, Mike really shouldn't defend Eugene Landy in any shape or form until he seems the film. Landy comes off as a complete madman trying to steal Brian's career, money and slowly kill him with dangerous Psych meds. As far as the documentary he mentions wanting to make showing The Beach Boys story from his point of view I've got a title. "Mike Love Loves Mike Love."

 

Loved the film. Saw it at a crappy second run theater for $3. Only place it was showing. The sound was horrible.
Want to see it again in a better theater or on Bluray. Even still as a huge Beach Boys I was in heaven.
My favorite scenes were Brian recording "Pet Sounds" and "Smile." Very interesting to see those sessions come to life on screen.

For me the most nerve wracking scene was watching Brian staring at all his "Smile" tapes after he decided to abandon the project. I was afraid for a minute he or Murry Wilson were going to destroy them. Lol. I'd read a rumor one time that he tried to burn the tapes. Thankfully that was untrue as shown by "The Smile Sessions."

Paul Dano was phenomenal. An oscar worthy performance if there ever was one. I felt like I finally got to know the real Brian Wilson. I've read many books and watched various documentaries about BW and The Beach Boys but much of "Love & Mercy" was still a revelation. I knew the film was going to be pretty dark but I had no idea how much hell Brian Wilson actually went through. Especially with Eugene Landy. It's a miracle he survived and is still here to tell us about it.

As far as film bio-pics about music legends, "Love & Mercy" is the best I've ever seen. The producers should tackle Jimi Hendrix next!

 

Yes, that is the impression I get, as well. Unfortunately, what made Brian brilliant and set him apart from most anyone else was his talent for arrangement. I mean, you can look at the chords for most of Wilson's songs, and without knowing the

I don't think Mike comes off badly at all in the film. Yes, he's not totally rah rah about Pet Sounds. And he makes some remark about Brian's weight. But he doesn't come across as evil by any standard.

I've said this before, but whatever, here it is again: I think Mike Love takes a much harder rap than he deserves. My reading is that you had a band of three brothers who were seriously dysfunctional in varying ways, a cousin (Mike) who was relatively sane, and a friend (Al) who was relatively sane. When Brian started to get weird, the brothers weren't in shape to do much about it and/or didn't care enough to do anything about it. Al's position in the band was always a little bit more tenuous because he didn't have the familial connection, and possibly because he was more a get along go along guy. So it kind of fell to Mike to say things that amounted to "cut this crap off and get back to work..." Put another way, Mike had to be the heavy because everyone else was either too busy being a child or in Al's case, didn't have that kind of position/personality. If you're trying to have a career and you see everything starting to go to s**t from drugs, stupid behavior, and an increasing number of "interlopers", then maybe you knee-jerk react against it all. Could Mike have been more sympathetic to Brian's art? Obviously. But it was all falling apart so quickly that I suspect he was less kind and less supportive than if he'd either had the time or else the support of others in the camp. I'm sure there was also some jealousy / suspicion, as well, of these new characters who Brian had started to collaborate with.

None of the guys in the band were exactly intellectuals. So it was kind of beyond them, including Mike, to step back and consider that maybe these big changes afoot were for the long term betterment of the band. He was thinking "how do we extend our winning streak". That's myopic, but it's not evil. None of them were thinking the long game, and so it was mostly about commerce, not art. For Brian, it was, increasingly, about art. But Brian could hardly articulate that well to his band in a way that made a lasting impression. And he was so co-dependent on those around him that he was unable to assert himself in a way that would have created real long term direction for the band. Mike stepped into the leadership void that was created as Brian first descended more deeply into his great art. and then later into his great mental illness.

It is undoubtedly true that SOMEONE could have steered The Beach Boys ship a lot better than Mike Love. But that someone wasn't in the band, and it wasn't their manager. So whoever it might have been didn't have a chance. Of the options that were possible at the time, Mike was probably the best of the lot.

 

That is too bad. The song, "Our Team" is better than half the tracks on MIU.

 

There are many missing session tapes from SMiLE, as illustrated by the session discography notes in the SMiLE Box Set. Do not assume for a second that everything recorded survives.

 

Saw it for the second time tonight, and my wife saw it for the third. It had much more emotional impact this time.

 

I want to go again as well.

 

Saw it for the fifth time on Thursday night .... and I still get choked up at the end of the movie!!! Incredible movie about an incredible man!

 

Not ashamed to say I've actually seen it seven times. Each time the anticipation and payoff for specific scenes and moments has been well worth the multiple visits to the cinema.

Sad to say, I'm positive this this is the last week the film will play in my city. It's down to 2 showings a day at random AMC theaters and 1 showing a day at the local arthouse theater. By Thursday, that's down to 1 showing at one of the afore mentioned AMC theaters and 1 last showing at the afore mentioned arthouse. Nothing after July 9th listed and I don't anticipate there will be. Unless the film spends a week or two at one of the dollar theaters.

The fellow at Showbiz411 sums it up like this:

"This is pretty much the last weekend for “Love and Mercy.” Roadkill Attractions will try and squeeze it up to a $10 million gross by leaving it in small out of the way theaters. They may not achieve such a lofty ambition. It’s a really good film. Shame."

However, I must say I'm not sure the film was ever destined to be on the same scale as WALK THE LINE or RAY, those are more conventional films with not nearly the same ambition (all due respect to James Mangold and Taylor Hackford) as LOVE & MERCY. LOVE & MERCY is much more intimate and there is so much depth to this story, between the cross-cutting story and the soundtrack/score, that it lends itself to exploration rather than denouement.

I plan on going at least once more...maybe twice.

 

I had thought to go again but decided to do my follow-up viewing with the DVD, which will give me unlimited opportunities to watch. Hopefully, it will extras, like Brian's studio visit when the Beatles recorded Carnival of Light.

 

I saw Love & Mercy again today, and it was even better the second time. I didn't think it was possible for Hollywood to properly tell this story, and they did. With respect, care, humanity, honesty and accuracy that is rarely seen - especially in music biopics. If you like Brian, The Beach Boys, 60s music and culture, Cusack, Dano, Giammati or Banks, don't miss it in the the theater. I teared up both times. Something about Brian's music does that to me. God Only Knows, Wonderful, Surf's Up, Love and Mercy and so many other Brian songs are touched by something sacred.

 

I finally got a chance to get away and see the movie tonight, and I have mixed feelings. Frankly, I think the movie is a mess, editorially. I think the non-linear storytelling didn't help things, and I think their choices as to how and when to show key story moments seemed very odd and unfocused, like editing by Cuisinart.

But I thought the performances were brilliant, and I loved the recreations of the Gold Star sessions and all the stuff with Paul Dano (who deserves at least an Oscar nomination). I thought all of those scenes really captured the flavor of what I imagine those years were like. And I agree with others who've commented that the treatment of Mike Love seemed very fair and evenhanded -- he's neither the boorish thug some believe him to be nor the total voice of reason he's sometimes claimed to be.

John Cusack doesn't even look vaguely similar to the older Brian Wilson, but I think his spoken voice, his mannerisms, and expressions were dead-on from everything I've ever seen, except for Brian's nervous habit of talking out of one side of his mouth. Paul Giamatti's portrayal of Dr. Landy was as evil, manipulative, and devious as I've always believed him to be, unquestionably the villain of the piece, though they didn't point that Landy had actually saved Brian's life on several occasions. Even a villain can have a good side (even if it's completely shrouded by self-interest and egotism). Murry was also as evil and abusive as all the biographies have painted him, though I kind of winced at the combinations of stories and the contracted expositions dropped in here and there.

I suspect the movie is not doing well because the film is so scattershot and all over the place, and it's like a very messy jigsaw puzzle telling a very complex, nuanced story. I also think the music selection was kind of odd, and while I think fans would have no problem recognizing the fragments and little musical moments here and there, I think a general audience might be a little confused. I loved the recreations of the concert scenes and TV appearances, and I completely bought the 1960s atmosphere and historical locations.

I think there's a good movie buried inside this mess, but telling the story from this kind of confused vantage point is not going to make it accessible to a wide audience. BTW, I was kind of appalled by the amount of grain and noise in the picture, and assumed (correctly) it was actually shot on film. I normally don't mind a little grain, but the levels in some scenes really were off the charts distracting. Maybe it was part of the look they were going for, but it's an odd creative choice.

 

I wouldn't be surprised if the entirety of the Carnival of Light track is also included as an audio extra. My guess is that they'll also include the actual footage of Mike Love giving the Beach Boys' acceptance speech at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

 

This sort of comes down to do you buy into the conceit of the story or not. There was ambition here to tell a non-conventional story about a unconventional artist. I admire that very much. Breaking away from the standard tropes found in biopics. I'll use this comparison. In 1998 Spielberg's SAVING PRIVATE RYAN was released 6 months before Malick's THE THIN RED LINE. The two films were about World War 2 but could not be further apart in both aspiration and tone. While Spielberg's film was satisfying in the way a burger and fries can be, Malick's film chose a different course. Neither production had anything to do with the other, don't misunderstand me. I believe THE THIN RED LINE was actually in development long before PRIVATE RYAN. My point in that comparison is more about the comparison between genre types.

Where LOVE & MERCY succeeds is exactly where a film like JERSEY BOYS fails. There is a lofty aim with LOVE & MERCY, to try and get to the heart of what this man was all about. Walking away from this film an audience can truly feel like they spent 2 hours with Brian Wilson at his creative apex and at his most fractured. The general audience you mention probably would have been more at ease with titles to guide them with specific events or years. But I think the filmmakers respected the audience enough to presume that they could follow along as the story unfolds. Admittedly, there are parts of the film that feel like a fever dream, but in my case, that's not a criticism.

I think perhaps the casting of John Cusack may have been as much about trying to find an older Brian as much as securing a somewhat bankable name. That said, I do think Cusack sinks into this role very well. And the more I have seen this film, the more both Brian's seem to harmonize. And I actually do think Cusack does embody Brian circa 1987-1988. He is by no means a dead ringer but he feels like an older version of the young man Paul Dano plays.

The only film grain I recall being used was during the title sequence montage. I think that was purposeful though. The bulk of the film looked clean to me, though shot on film as you mentioned (Robert Yeoman was the DP), the digital projections I have seen were all perfectly rendered.