Brian Wilson: genius or madman?

Rating: 8/10 (4 October 2015)

I don't think I've ever seen a biopic quite like LOVE & MERCY before, and I'm still processing what I've seen, to be honest. Focusing on two time periods in Brian Wilson's life, it explores the Beach Boys' heyday in the 1960's (with Paul Dano) and a low period in the 1980's (with John Cusack) during which he meets his second wife, Melinda (Elizabeth Banks), who helps him out of his precarious situation with Eugene Landy (Paul Giamatti), a psychologist who is very controlling of his personal life. Unlike GET ON UP, the James Brown biopic from last year that followed a stream-of-consciousness approach to narrative structure, LOVE & MERCY is very linear. The two timelines do kind of fade into one another, but the end goal of Brian Wilson's rehabilitation is always front and center. The best aspect of the film is dual performance by Paul Dano and John Cusack as Brian Wilson. Although they each play him differently, due to the different circumstances in those periods of Brian Wilson's life, they still felt like the same person. Paul Dano gets the showier performance, but John Cusack still does excellent work as the heavily medicated Wilson of the 1980's. And, both of them accurately portray the loneliness and isolation that Wilson must have felt. The supporting cast do just as good, though. Paul Giamatti was suitably slimy as the Eugene Landy, the psychologist who takes advantage of Brian Wilson in his weak state, and Elizabeth Banks was very charming and grounded as Melinda Ledbetter, the woman who finally rescues Brian from the prison that his life became. From a technical standpoint, LOVE & MERCY is very competent, with occasional flashes of brilliance. One particularly memorable shot was a long take around a recording studio as Brian is instructing two cellists on the sound he wants them to make. There were also a couple similar shots in Brian's Malibu home (in the 1980's period). There was also a few sequences where the footage was degraded to look like it was recorded a long time ago, which I thought was creative. Then, there's the music. It's been a long time since I've actually listened to the Beach Boys, but it was refreshing to hear it. The score by Atticus Ross was also quite good, its sparseness capturing, again, the loneliness and isolation in Brian Wilson's head. If there's anything negative I have to say, it's that there are some sporadic pacing issues, but nothing so egregious as to make the film unwatchable. Besides, the ending was rather satisfying anyway. Overall, LOVE & MERCY was a uniquely structured psychological portrait in lieu of the typical biography, and it should be commended for that, in addition to the excellent performances and music. As to whether or not he was a genius or madman, I guess there's a little of both (but mostly genius, in my opinion).