Sad and rather creepy...

Rating: 9/10 (17 September 2015)

This film is about Brian Wilson of "Beach Boy" fame and focuses, in particular, on his mental health struggle and his sick relationship with Dr. Eugene Landy. While the film doesn't say it, it does imply that Wilson's long struggle with debilitating mental illness was the combination of his sick childhood (with an emotionally abusive father), psychedelic drugs, real organic mental illness AND, most importantly, the abusive treatment and over-prescription of pills by the man who was SUPPOSED to be making him better but who used and abused him. It all makes for a very moving and sad tale, as the leading character played in the movie didn't seem malevolent but was more like a lost child looking for a sense of direction and love.
To do this story, the filmmakers did a couple things that were unusual. First, the story is completely non-linear and bounces back and forth from a young Brian to a much older Brian. I assume this bounciness was used to emphasize how Brian's thinking was erratic and disjoint. Secondly, and this was really odd, two different actors played Brian! Young Brian was played by Paul Dano--and he really looked a lot like the actual singer. Older Brian was played capably by John Cusack--a guy who, to me, seemed very unlike Wilson. While it all was very unusual, it worked very well and you could tell that the folks making this movie saw it as a labor of love-- such as getting the look and sound of the Beach Boys down pat.
This is a very interesting and amazingly sad film. The only complaint I have is that so much of the story is missing--such as HOW he finally got away from Dr. Landy as well as Landy's life following his being (only briefly) stripped of his license. Some is alluded to in an epilogue which is pasted on the screen at the end. Sadly, Landy soon began practicing again and continued until his death a few years ago.
One thing I REALLY liked about the film was during the final credits they showed the actual Brian Wilson singing one of his new songs. WOW did he look great--a HUGE improvement over a decade or two ago when he just looked crazy and depressed. It's good to see the improvement and I wish him the best. As for Landy, if everything in the film is true, I hope he's burning in Hell.
Finally, if you do watch this film, you might want to have some tissues handy. As the film ended I found myself crying...crying because of the wasted years for Wilson. It's all so very sad but, fortunately, a story with a happy ending.
By the way, if you get the DVD, take a look at a couple of the special features. I loved hearing the costume and set designers and all the subtle things they did to heighten the story. I also really agree when the director said that there was so much material that it could have been a mini-series (and this would explain the way then ended the film). Really neat stuff!