Review of Love & Mercy (2015) by Robert B — 12 Jan 2016

I had a strange realization watching the film... There were a couple older ladies sitting behind me who chatted a little during the movie (not enough to ruin it really), and they seemed very familiar with the events of Brian Wilson's life - when Gene Landy shows up they knew immediately, and a couple other times. But it almost made the film like a MCU movie where there's this world of the film that people are familiar with the characters already. Just a note, seemed like an odd epiphany I had.

But! The film itself was VERY good. Paul Dano and John Cusack both brought different but appropriate energies to the different versions of Brian Wilson - eerily so on Paul Dano's performance. It was crazy to see his mannerisms and voice coming out of Paul Dano's boyish face, when Brian Wilson for much of my life has been an older man. Either way, they both brought great skill into portraying the visionary musician.

The other stand-out parts of the film were the incredible sound design and the non-linear editing. The story hops back and forth between the 60?s and the 80?s in a way that really keenly tells the story of Brian Wilson's mental decline and later abusive relationship with Landy. The key moments that really triggered some innovative storytelling were Brian's first acid trip, Mike Love's disgruntled reaction to Pet Sounds, the development of Good Vibrations, and then of course, Elizabeth Banks's Melinda Ledbetter taking down Landy with the help of the Wilson family near the end. THE SOUND DESIGN THOUGH. it just so evocatively displays, in tandem with Paul Dano, the "music in his head" enigma and really contributes as a tool to the storytelling throughout the entire film.

It might be tough to find (limited release I think?) but definitely worth seeing in a theater with good sound so you can be totally immersed. It was great, would definitely recommend!