Love & MercyIs genius something which is immediately recognizable, a label which makes it apparent what is exceptional and what is not? Although Brian Wilson is now regarded as a musical virtuoso--consider his, and the Beach Boys' album, "Pet Sounds"--no one knows how one's efforts to produce something will be regarded en masse, how pouring one's soul into something will be received, as the story of Love & Mercy explores, a biopic about the creative head of the popular band. But more than just a "behind the music" piece about surfer rock and nostalgia, Love & Mercy delves further off the deep end, into the troubled life of this talented man and the woman who helps bring him back from the edge.
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Love & Mercy switches back and forth, between the peak of the Beach Boys' popularity and some decades later, a portrait of the man at two different periods in his life, portrayed by Paul Dano in his youth, and John Cusack later. There are parallels between the two eras, like the persistence of the psychosis which has rooted itself in Brian, one which colors his view and alters the way he hears the world. There is the younger Brian, who finds himself overwhelmed by the unprecedented fame and adoration of the world, a force so dominant that he retreats to the studio to craft his opus. His work is tantamount to carving out a part of his soul and spreading it on the measure. For those who have not heard "Pet Sounds" before--and, seriously, what are you doing reading this if you haven't heard it, go out and buy it right now--the album is experimental and creative, yet orchestrated and dynamic. It may not sound like "pop music" or have that "Beach Boys" sound, as his brother claims--but that doesn't stop it from being a thoroughly enriching listening experience, a fact lost on his family, but not his musical contemporaries. Brian is in his element among the skilled artisans he recruits in his studio, who appreciate his creativity and gifted composition. He is referred to as "touched" by a colleage; the word choice is too on-the-nose. Brian is suffering from delusions, sounds he hears, which stir him and tamper with his perception of the world. It's hard to seek help when you appear to be on top of the world, so his eventual resort is seeking solace in drugs and losing himself. Brian's father is revealed to have been violently abusive of the Wilson boys--one episode resulting in hearing damage for the young Brian, which it is suggested may have contributed to his psychosis--but Brian seeks his counsel, his approval, as he starts chiseling out the early form of "Pet Sounds". There is a tug of war between Brian's desire to be a part of his family and his need to blossom creatively. He surrounds himself with his family, but knows that he has to "get out" what's inside, even if what is within is foreign and unusual to them. His pain comes from the sense that his work is forcing him to choose one over the other, leaving him in between.
Switching back between the further past to the not-so-far past of the older Brian Wilson, he meets the lovely Melinda Ledbetter, played by Elizabeth Banks, at a Cadillac dealership, following their strange initial encounter...as well as his "therapist" Eugene Landy, played by Paul Giamatti, and bodyguards. It is immediately apparent that Landy has sway over the retired musician, although it isn't until Melinda and Brian go out on their first date that this becomes oppressively apparent. The power mad Landy keeps Brian under a lockdown of controlling behavior and medication, a predatory routine which leaves him incapable of making any kind of assertion of control--Landy is feeding off of him like a vampire, to put it nicely. Melinda cautiously approaches the situation, unsure of both the real extent of Brian's condition, but also of what Landy might really be capable of. There is a point when Brian tries to break through and plead for Melinda to see him, meeting him in his studio where he is lying on the floor, as though ready to die. Just as she and Brian are about to leave, the villainous Landy comes over on the speakers, having ambushed them from the ironically-named "control room", to snake his way back into Brian's mind. As even actor Paul Giamatti observed regarding these events based on fact, "the problem was that no one is going to believe a lot of this was for real. It's so much more bizarre than you could actually show." It's hard to think of music so capable of reaching into the soul and stirring us on different levels coming from the heart of one so troubled by confusion and pain; but this also recalls an earlier moment when Brian and his brothers are discussing one song--"Hang On To Your Ego". One brother claims that it is a "drug song", calling Brian out on what must be becoming a drug problem--but not actually intervening--but it may be as simple as an early cry for help, just as his father exclaims that "God Only Knows" is a suicide note. For as abusive and cruel as his father was, Brian still feels that void in his life, and this is what Landy capitalizes on, exploiting that need of Brian's to let go of his responsibility, to remain a boy in a man's body. Landy diagnoses this somewhat accurately...only he missed the memo--the Hippocratic oath--about his responsibility to actually try to cure the condition rather than profiting from it. Love & Mercy is frequently punctuated by musical selections from the Beach Boys--as it should be--and they fill the story with an operatic quality, giving depth to the account with these soulful songs. Even the uplifting ending--with "Wouldn't It Be Nice" playing over the soundtrack--could only really work in this movie and not be hammy. It would be easy to say that Love & Mercy is just another biopic, one which tries to exploit the beloved musician's troubled life for the silver screen, but that is unfair. His story is a tale of redemption--a challenging one--which implores us to sympathy for a gifted soul who has shared beautiful music with the world and has longed for the acceptance of family more than fame. Brian tells Melinda that Landy wants him to tell himself "I love you" five times a day...although he explains that he wishes he heard it from someone else instead; don't we all want that?
Recommended for: Fans of the Beach Boys, yes, but also fans of movies about people struggling with the anxieties which plague us, tearing us down or filling us with fear. It is a love story, and one about achieving something special even when doubted by those who should support you most. And if the collection of music from "Pet Sounds" et al doesn't have you tapping your feet, well you just don't like music.
Switching back between the further past to the not-so-far past of the older Brian Wilson, he meets the lovely Melinda Ledbetter, played by Elizabeth Banks, at a Cadillac dealership, following their strange initial encounter...as well as his "therapist" Eugene Landy, played by Paul Giamatti, and bodyguards. It is immediately apparent that Landy has sway over the retired musician, although it isn't until Melinda and Brian go out on their first date that this becomes oppressively apparent. The power mad Landy keeps Brian under a lockdown of controlling behavior and medication, a predatory routine which leaves him incapable of making any kind of assertion of control--Landy is feeding off of him like a vampire, to put it nicely. Melinda cautiously approaches the situation, unsure of both the real extent of Brian's condition, but also of what Landy might really be capable of. There is a point when Brian tries to break through and plead for Melinda to see him, meeting him in his studio where he is lying on the floor, as though ready to die. Just as she and Brian are about to leave, the villainous Landy comes over on the speakers, having ambushed them from the ironically-named "control room", to snake his way back into Brian's mind. As even actor Paul Giamatti observed regarding these events based on fact, "the problem was that no one is going to believe a lot of this was for real. It's so much more bizarre than you could actually show." It's hard to think of music so capable of reaching into the soul and stirring us on different levels coming from the heart of one so troubled by confusion and pain; but this also recalls an earlier moment when Brian and his brothers are discussing one song--"Hang On To Your Ego". One brother claims that it is a "drug song", calling Brian out on what must be becoming a drug problem--but not actually intervening--but it may be as simple as an early cry for help, just as his father exclaims that "God Only Knows" is a suicide note. For as abusive and cruel as his father was, Brian still feels that void in his life, and this is what Landy capitalizes on, exploiting that need of Brian's to let go of his responsibility, to remain a boy in a man's body. Landy diagnoses this somewhat accurately...only he missed the memo--the Hippocratic oath--about his responsibility to actually try to cure the condition rather than profiting from it. Love & Mercy is frequently punctuated by musical selections from the Beach Boys--as it should be--and they fill the story with an operatic quality, giving depth to the account with these soulful songs. Even the uplifting ending--with "Wouldn't It Be Nice" playing over the soundtrack--could only really work in this movie and not be hammy. It would be easy to say that Love & Mercy is just another biopic, one which tries to exploit the beloved musician's troubled life for the silver screen, but that is unfair. His story is a tale of redemption--a challenging one--which implores us to sympathy for a gifted soul who has shared beautiful music with the world and has longed for the acceptance of family more than fame. Brian tells Melinda that Landy wants him to tell himself "I love you" five times a day...although he explains that he wishes he heard it from someone else instead; don't we all want that?
Recommended for: Fans of the Beach Boys, yes, but also fans of movies about people struggling with the anxieties which plague us, tearing us down or filling us with fear. It is a love story, and one about achieving something special even when doubted by those who should support you most. And if the collection of music from "Pet Sounds" et al doesn't have you tapping your feet, well you just don't like music.