Brian Wilson biopic: Love and Mercy

They should have shown more of his humorous side to balance things out. He is a pretty funny guy. They make him look like Roger Waters or something.Why not show Mike doing his impersonation of a Mowtown A&R man during the "Pet Sounds" sessions?

 

Yeah the fact is, and I'm not a Mike guy by any means, but the fact is when you listen to both pet sounds and smile sessions he is very much in a great mood, joking, and generally having a good time with the guys.

 

Maybe Mike will get his own BIOPIC one of these days that can feature his unique brand of humor, from the gas pump to Dennis' daughter...

 

Yep, Amazon and Best Buy have it up for that date. Just 8 short weeks away...

Just noticed Amazon has the Blu-Ray/DVD artwork up. Whew-wee it is uh..sub par.





If they wanted to deviate from the tremendous poster US poster art...



...they could've used something like the one used in the UK:



Oh well, as long as the contents are sufficient (great transfer, great sound and great extras).

Speaking of extras...ideally the following would be like a home run:

* Audio Commentaries (perhaps by Bill Pohlad & Oren Moverman)
* Deleted Scenes
* Isolated Film Score (Atticus Ross film score as an isolated track)

That last one due to the fact that there has been no soundtrack release. At least with an isolated score I could "roll my own" with DVD/Blu-Ray Audio Extractor.

 

I always say, if I'm still thinking about a movie a week after I saw it, then the filmmakers did its job. In that respect, the film is good in that it had an effect on me. I look forward to seeing the extra bits on the home video release.

 

For as big of a Brian fan as I am, I've not yet seen this. I've been so busy with work, family, etc., that I've neglected this. I just might wait until the DVD comes out.

 

Blu-ray.com reports the following:

I feel VERY happy about this. I'm sad about the lack of an Isolated Film Score, but maybe the soundtrack/score can be released separately at some point by Capitol, perhaps, even as a download only.

These extras are exactly what I was hoping for otherwise.

...

http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Love-and-Mercy-Blu-ray/135731/

 

I've talked about this a bit in my various observations about L&M but I would like to get other peoples interpretations.

There are two shots of 'Brian Present' (1970s) in bed. Both shots last no longer than 4-5 seconds each. What is your take on those two momentary interludes? What do they mean? How do you interpret them?

 

Interesting question. The easy answer I guess is that they serve as an explanation for why Landy is part of the story (for those who are not familiar with Brian's life) and setting up the montage later when very young Brian, young Brian and older Brian is lying in the bed and there is the changing cast of visitors in the room (where the voiceover says that Murry has died).

There's some old (actual) footage of Brian in the 70s and he is sitting in bed, and behind him you can see the ornate headboard. They managed to recreate the headboard of that bed in the film. Nice touch.

 

I'm thinking about the half of the film with Paul Dano. For the other half, my only thought was expecting Cusasck to hold a boombox over his head and blast "In Your Eyes" at Melinda

 

I guess Brian being on the commentary track was too much to hope for...

 

Brian would probably not be the best choice for a commentary.

Q: Brian, can you tell us what was going through your mind at this point?

A: Yes.



Not a real occurrence, but you get the idea.

Reminds me of this exchange:

What was the last movie you watched?

Norbit

What do you think is the greatest movie of all time?

Norbit

 

I was very surprised at how well both of them did -- both extremely good actors. I almost forgot during Cusack's performance that he didn't look a thing like Brian Wilson in the early 1990s.

 

My wife and I went to see this last weekend. We both really enjoyed it. I thought it was cool to see those recreations of the studio activity - really cool - and while I don't think there was any revelation, it was just nice to see those visualizations, which seemed to play to the conventional wisdom for those of us who followed all the anecdotes and the story as it occurred. Paul Dano did a great job, and apparently provided vocals on some of the demos. (This had a lot of support from the Beach Boys and Brian Wilson camps, for those who watched the credits.)

Now, Lory had came along as a good sport to indulge me, but she ended up really liking the movie. When it was over, she said she had no idea there was so much story there - so much drama - and it put all those out-takes I used to make her listen to in perspective. She asked if I had any books she could read about Brian. I said yes, of course, but when I got around to taking a look, I could only find WOULDN'T IT BE NICE and HEROES AND VILLAINS. As these both pre-date Brian's emancipation from Landy - and WIBN is actually dedicated to him - I'm thinking she wouldn't be getting the full picture there. So, what is the best book on Brian today, that really digs in and brings the story up-to-date? (It doesn't have to be the authorized BriMel story, but something that provides reasonable perspective to the last 3 decades.)

 

I will be pre-ordering this! can't wait to see it.

 

More likely "Be My Baby".

 

Peter Carlins' bio of Brian.

 

They certainly did. The set design and overall look of the film is just meticulous. A fan with a fast eye might be able to say "that's not the right microphone!" or "that's not the right kind of car!" but overall it's right on. You can definitely lose yourself in this movie, like it's a different time and place. That's always a tough thing to pull off and they did.

 

My wife and I saw Love and Mercy earlier this week. My wife is not as much of a fan of the Beach Boys and Brian Wilson as I am. She appreciates his genius, but she commented that Pet Sounds/Smile era BB are not what the band means to her. She always associated the BB with sun, fun, surf and summer. To an extent she understood Mike Love's viewpoint but she also thought Murray was an ass. My take on the movie is that it captured Brian at both his creative peak and his personal nadir. And I thought Love was treated fairly- he didn't want to mess with the formula, but he also helped create Good Vibrations. Ron Dano did an incredible job in bringing a young Brian Wilson to life. It was fascinating to be in the studio with Brian and the Wrecking Crew while they created Pet Sounds. The interactions and creative process seemed authentic, at least based upon what I have read of the sessions. I appreciated the attention to detail- the scenes looked real and as a fan of vintage audio I loved the all of the vintage equipment. As for the later scenes, I knew that his second wife was instrumental in Brian's recovery, but I was not aware of how important she was in getting rid of Landy. Given that Brian and Marilyn have endorsed the movie a cynic may come to believe that Marilyn's role may be overstated. Musician Magazine published a long form article and interview with Brian in 1984 or 1985. In the interview, Brian makes clear that Landy was responsible for getting him out of bed and for convincing him to exercise and loose weight. For all of Landy's crimes, I haven't seen or read anything to contradict that Landy got him out of bed and physically healthy. The other things he did were reprehensible and unfortunately led to long term changes in how Brian reacts to the world. I am a fan of John Cusak and found his performance as a mid 80's Brian to be believable. Since the 2 periods depicted were (I believe) his creative peak, and his personal nadir, it made sense to cast 2 different actors. As previously stated, Dano did an excellent job. Cusak mastered Brian's speaking patterns, mannerisms and tics. But he wasn't Brian, and that was the point ! Under Landy's care, Brian was literally another person, so it made sense to have an actor that did not look like him to reinforce that he was not himself.

The elephant in the room is Smile. What would have happened if Smile came out in the Spring of 67 and to support it, the BB played at Monterey (in jeans, with longer hair, and some beards) ? I have listened to both recent versions of Smile, along with some of the live sets. To me Smile was not as groundbreaking as Pet Sounds. The later advanced the state of Pop Music. The former, if released in spring 67 would not have. Sure it would have been a "hit" because of Good Vibrations, and likely more polished versions of Heros and Villains and Surf's Up. But even stoned out psychadelic paisley clad hippies would have questioned "culminated ruins domino". But, the band would have also remained relevant to the woodstock generation, and may have been more warmly received as singer songrwriters in the late 60's early 70's. Unfortunately no one knew in Jan 1967 how quickly times would change- that what was hip and groundbreaking in Jan would be old and square by October.

 

I found those shots and a few others a homage if you will to the 1969 film "2001: A Space Odyssey."

 

I know I'm in the minority here so I must be right !) But I thought Cusack's mannered Mr. Sensitive wait a beat before responding portrayal was less acting than a poorly conceived conceit. Or maybe it was one of those chances actors take, and one never knows until a rough cut if it works or not.

I think Cusack is personable presence who is fine in roles that don't push him, because of his limitations as an actor .I haven't seen everything he's done, but imo its basically variations on a theme. But that approach is so at odds with Paul Dano realistically inhabiting Brian's personna I wonder what the point was, especially when Dano probbably could've played older Brian just as well.

My guess is Cusack brought his name to the project, enabling funding and maybe even worked for scale or something. If that's the case, thanks John! It looks to me like a film that was marvelously resourceful for a limited budget. Inventive yet accurate in its 1960's recreations. But something had to give. And I think it was in the 'older' Brian segments, as well as the other Beach Boys, other than Mike, who were basically wallpaper. They couldn't give Carl a good line or two about singing 'God Only Knows"? Dennis, who deserves his own movie, and almost got one and still might, was about as rambunctious as Al Jardine. And Al was...... did he say anything?

I also think Bill Pohland directed with sensitivity and skill. Enough to make the older Brian segments more than watchable.

So part of the movie is a miracle, and part is a disppointment, but half a miracle is better than none.

 

Melinda, no

Melinda, not Marilyn.

 

It's just showing what came in between. It is the faceless Dano/Cusack hybrid creature.

 

Right. I agree with you at face value on this. However, I wrote the following on the SS board the other day and I think there's something to it. (shrug)

"The original screenplay, as I understand, had three Brian's. Brian 'Past' (1960s), Brian 'Present' (1970s) and Brian 'Future' (1980s). Brian 'Present' was whittled down to two 4-5 second interludes at the beginning of the film, following the initial prologue of Brian at the piano -> and then the "Black Hole" ear sequence. There we first see Brian 'Present'. I think that part of the story (and this is just a theory) is Brian 'Present' remembering all the sounds and images of Brian 'Past'. The second time we see Brian 'Present' is at roughly the 100 minute mark of the film after Marylin calls to Brian 'come see (Carnie), she's got your smile'. Quickly after the 2nd appearance of Brian 'Present' we cut to 'the Last Will and Testament of Brian Douglas Wilson', Gloria giving Melinda what she found in the printer.

My take on this is that as the film opens Brian 'Present' is remembering Brian 'Past' and the music. And the 2nd time is a visual reference of what Brian 'Past' becomes after several more years of psychosis. Then we jump back to the 'Future' with the will and then Landy being served.

Heavy stuff, all of it. A lesser film wouldn't have even dared go anywhere near this."

BTW, here's the actor that plays Brian 'Present' for those two interludes.



Of course, his face is basically obscured by covers, robe and girth.

 

I've wrestled with this a bit myself and I'm someone that really adores this movie. I do think Cusack tends to play "John Cusack" in most of his roles. One of my favorite roles he was ever cast in was in Terrence Malick's THE THIN RED LINE. He has some great dialogue with Nick Nolte. What's Cusack's characters name in that film? John. He's a great Gen-X every man.

What I will say, conversely, is that maybe that more laid back approach he typically brings actually ends up as a benefit to playing Brian 'Future' rather than a detriment. It is an intriguing thought that maybe Paul Dano could have played both roles and I've actually kind of at times wish he had, I've seen the film numerous times now. But I do come back to the fact that it was probably appropriate to have such a jarringly different actor approach the older Brian because that character, that person, is so different than the younger man.

I think you're probably right on there. Cusack definitely lent some gravitas to the project that may or may not have been absent without him. It's hard to say.

Since there is no scene for the "God Only Knows" vocal session it's kind of hard to have shown Carl singing it. However, when Brian plays GOK for Murry he does say 'it's right for Carl's voice'. I do feel like the brothers are treated as Brian's insular, but very loving, support system. Carl in particular.

You would be correct about Al, he has no lines in the film. In fact Bruce Johnston's character has a few lines, no Al. I feel like Jake Abel did a good job with Mike Love. After all, the story is from Brian's perspective so I wouldn't have expected much about the Beach Boys. I'm reminded of Dennis Wilson's famous quote: "Brian Wilson is the Beach Boys. He is the band. We're his f...ing messengers. He is all of it. Period. We're nothing. He's everything."

Very valid points, I wouldn't say I'm personally disappointed in the part you refer to, it perhaps could have been "more" awe inspiring as the other half. But at the end of the day, maybe the Brian 'Future' scenes and how Cusack played them were actually the most accurate portrayal even if they don't give of sparks quite like Dano's portion does.