Review of Love & Mercy (2015) by Mark J — 01 Aug 2015
Love and Mercy focuses on the Beach Boys' Brian Wilson's descent into self-imposed exile caused by a lethal combination of pre-existing mental illness and drug use, though Wilson's self-medication is heavily censored in this version of events.
As the creative genius at the centre of the Beach Boys Brian Wilson's story is an intriguing one, but Love and Mercy is a slightly jarring experience mainly due to its use of two different actors to play the younger Wilson (Dano) and older Wilson (Cusack).
Both handle their parts superbly, especially Dano, but this feels like two separate movies inter-spliced. The circumstances surrounding Brian's split from the Beach Boys and his drift into the manipulative hands of Dr Landy are not fully explained, but the scenes involving the creation of Pet Sounds are done so superbly they are worth the price of admission alone.
This review of Love & Mercy (2015) was written by Mark J on 01 Aug 2015.
Love & Mercy has generally received very positive reviews.
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