Love and Mercy: a brilliantly done telling of a lesser known musical evolution.

Rating: 10/10 (27 October 2015)

So, I watched Love and Mercy when it had its limited release in Chicago . Being brought up on The Beach Boys' music, Pet Sounds especially, I was excited to see how they presented the story.
Love and Mercy is Bill Pohlad's film documenting not only the experimental era of the Beach Boys' music, but also the story of lead singer/songwriter Brian Wilson's psychological illness and his time with Dr. Eugene Landy in the late 80s. They're two stories on their own, which each could support a feature length film, but Pohlad and his team perfectly intertwine the two, giving you a fascinating perspective on the growth of experimental rock music in the 60s as well as what the effect of being a superstar in the past can do when you fall out of the spotlight.
Wilson falls to drinking in the 60s, and eventually into depression, and the movie shows that build-up in the 60s, and then switches to the 80s to show the effect it has. Paul Dano plays Wilson in the 60s, and John Cusack plays Wilson in the 80s, and they both do a spectacular job. They play completely different people, but at the same time are playing the same man.
A fact about the production, Dano and Cusack never came into contact until they were nearing the end of production so that their portrayals of Brian would be completely their own.
I applaud the amount of detail that went into this film, it's what made it such a great biopic of Brian's life. The cinematography, done by Robert Yeoman, whose other works include films such as The Grand Budapest Hotel, The Royal Tenenbaums, and the new Ghostbusters movie, is spot-on in its depiction of 1965 and 1985, respectively. The subtleties in his decisions really help the film stand out from other music biopics.
The soundtrack, composed by Atticus Ross, is a mix of original composed music, isolated Beach Boys instrumental and vocal tracks, as well as recorded dialogue by the cast, and is one of my favorite in recent films as are most of Atticus Ross's efforts. It's used intelligently and he knows when to use it for dramatic effect and when not to.
A large portion of the film is shot in the recording studio, and Pohlad and Yeoman were going for a documentary/fly-on-the-wall feel, so they shot all the studio scenes with two hand-held 16mm film cameras so as to fully capture that mood. For example, my favorite shot/scene in the whole movie is in the studio; Brian is focusing on cello players, but to see what the rest of the band is doing, Pohlad and Yeoman do a crazy 360-degree shot that shows the entire studio and what each member is doing. The camera-work is incredible and the actors perfectly hit their marks. It's probably one of my favorite shots in any movie I've seen, especially a modern film.
Another crazy detail that went into production was the choice to shoot the studio scenes in the exact same studios as the Beach Boys records were recorded in. They still stood unchanged in Los Angeles, so they shot all the scenes in those studios. Pretty crazy and just shows Pohlad's dedication to the painstaking detail of Brian and the group's story.
All the shots in the movie are very well thought through and all have their own purpose. Framed purposefully and carefully, Yeoman gets the most out of the screen with the choice of colors he uses, or the way he uses perspective to add depth to what we see. This could be the use of mirrors like I mentioned, or being able to visually and subconsciously separate the difference between the shots in the 60s and the shots in the 80s. And finally, Pohlad's direction is spot-on. Dano, Cusack, and all the rest of the cast are all acting at full form, and part of that is thanks to Pohlad's direction. The entire movie flows continuously and there really is no part that feels draggish or boring. For a movie just over two hours, once the movie starts, it picks up very quickly. It does not take very long to become acquainted with the characters and story.
You really don't have to know everything or really anything about the Beach Boys to enjoy this movie. The performances are all extremely convincing, some disturbing, and is a great period biopic. It's not easy to depict two totally different decades, but Love and Mercy does it perfectly. If you're a fan of the Beach Boys, or just want an interesting new movie to watch, Love and Mercy is an amazing film and just about anyone can get something out of it. I highly recommend it. I do not like to normally give this rating but it impressed me enough that I give it a 10 out of 10.