Average!

Rating: 5/10 (31 December 2015)

Based on the life of musician-songwriter Brian Wilson, co-founder of the Beach Boys, 'Love & Mercy' is strictly an average biopic, that never becomes too arresting to be called a knockout on the legend its based upon.
'Love & Mercy' Synopsis: n the 1960s, Beach Boys leader Brian Wilson struggles with emerging psychosis as he attempts to craft his avant-garde pop masterpiece. In the 1980s, he is a broken, confused man under the 24-hour watch of shady therapist Dr. Eugene Landy.
'Love & Mercy' suffers from erratic Writing. I liked past & future angle, its not like I didn't. But, the final half-hour, especially, the penultimate moments, lack the fizz. I wasn't emotionally engaged nor was I blown away by drama. At best, Michael Alan Lerner & Oren Moverman's Screenplay works in very limited doses. It needed to be stronger, no two options on that!
Bill Pohlad's Direction is alright. Coming right away to the performances, John Cusack & Paul Dano enact Wilson, differently, but engrossingly. Dano enacts the younger version, adding uneasy youthfulness to the part, while Cusack, on the other-hand, enacts a more troubled version of Wilson, but the under-rated actor nails every nuance. Elizabeth Banks as Melinda Ledbetter, is splendid & remains in character throughout. Paul Giamatti as Dr. Eugene Landy, is perfectly menacing as the doctor from hell.
On the whole, 'Love & Mercy' could've been better.