Review of Love & Mercy (2015) by Nick D — 05 Jul 2015

Dano's performance makes real the era and the raggedy tragedy of Wilson's art and life. I especially liked the scenes in the studio. Watching somebody make art in the movies is typically a hot mess, but here, we see a process, made coherent because we know where it's going.

I'm less enamored of the Cusack segments, bringing the story into the 90s when he is rescued from a Svengali huckster psychologist, not only because Cusack's look is so different, but because there was so much missing between the different slices of Wilson's life that the latter felt contrived and conflated.

Which it is, if you read Wilson's bio. Oh well, it's not perfect, but the music is, and the scenes where the music is central are just so wonderful for this nostalgic geezer who lived through it all.

I used to go to the Beach Boys concert every Christmas. Until, of course, the Beetles.