Brian Wilson - Tortured Genus

Rating: 8/10 (13 June 2015)

I just saw "Love and Mercy" , and I felt like I was inside the head of Brian Wilson , for a little while. I have to sit down and listen to "Pet Sounds" again , and maybe even "Smile" again , as these albums are the basis of this movie , an extraordinary journey inside the head , and tortured soul of Brian Wilson. It's hard to explain the creative process , and , being a photographer of sorts , and having been told I have a "gift" , I can sort of understand what an artist goes through in creating artistic expressions, for a lack of a better term. "Pet Sounds" has been acknowledged as one of the best albums in rock history , and it sill reverberates in a way few albums can. Paul Dano plays Wilson the younger , and John Cusack plays the older, damaged Brian , when he's being handled by Dr. Eugene Landy , the quack , as played by Paul Giamotti. , as a manipulative , nasty self styled "saver" of Brian. This movie touched me in a way that movies don't usually touch me. There are some slow periods in the movie , and it's not really a mainstream movie , and it's not told in a mainstream - by the numbers biopic sort of way , but , we've seen enough of those kinds of movies. This is told in a way a person who's gone through problems with mental illness and creativity and issues related to that , and I think creativity and mental illness can go together , as has been proved time , and time again. It's not a perfect movie , and Brian Wilson is probably a complicated , tortured soul , and I've heard he can be very touchy in interviews , and very flaky in concert , but the fact of what he probably went through , and the fact that he's still here is a testament to the soul of a true artist. Go see it!