Ok, just hear me out – when the main thesis of your film is that your subject was misdiagnosed as schizophrenic, do you think it’s a quality move to have him portrayed by two different actors? Just askin’. Brain Wilson spent three years in bed. Literally. Now I wouldn’t have guessed a guy who spent three years in bed was so complex he needed to be played by two different actors, but I was wrong.
Paul Dano gets twentysomething Brian – the genius songwriter of The Beach Boys. The man was single-handedly responsible for the groundbreaking album Pet Sounds, and we know this because his kin all toured Japan without him while he stayed home, wrote, produced and had roast beef. I quite honestly wish the reunion were a little more climactic – “so Brian, I’m so excited, what did you make while we were away? More songs about cars and surfing I hope?” “Ummmmm … sure.”
Dano plays Wilson as preoccupied, his mind constantly in an area where others are not venturing. All you metaphor fans will get a big kick out of the group intervention in the swimming pool following the Pet Sounds release. Brian is hanging out in the deep end, encouraging his brothers and cousin to join him. The others steadfastly hang at the shallow end; that’s what they know. That’s what works for them. Cars and surfing.
The Pet Sounds creation is the big focus for this storyline. Love & Mercy wanted to establish very clearly Brian’s Mozart-like genius (the transition from “what’s in my head” to instrumental translation is very similar to the same in Amadeus.) This was a much better role for Dano than I’m used to. Oh, I still wanted to punch him in the face, of course, but not nearly so much as I usually do.
The big question that never gets answered in this film is was the musical genius a result of Brian’s clear mental imbalance?
John Cusack gets fortysomething post-bed Brian. He plays Brian as less otherly-focused as distracted and a little paranoid. His life is owned by Dr. Eugene Landy (Paul Giamatti in one of the worst hair pieces you’ve ever seen), 
his doctor, trainer, psychologist, guru and anesthesiologist. Enter Melinda Ledbetter (Elizabeth Banks), the woman will take him from this if she can put up with several team dates at the opening of the relationship. Love & Mercy seats her at a Moody Blues concert between the two men; when she comments to Brian, Dr. Landy answers. The deeper she gets in, the more inevitable a confrontation between the two.
Love & Mercy is a thesis piece aggressively begging for a counter argument. Was Dr. Landy manipulative? Almost certainly. But it’s painful to ignore the fact that Brian Wilson was 300 pounds and voluntarily bedridden when Landy found him and turned him into somebody who could be portrayed by John Cusack. Who’s to say Melinda Ledbetter isn’t a gold digger herself? And what did the brothers and cousin make of all this? Mike Love (Jake Abel) is quite clear about his dissatisfaction with Pet Sounds … well, why didn’t he and Brian’s brothers write a different album that mirrored their previous platinum efforts? Win or lose, it would sell, no? The Beach Boys never struck me as a group with fabulous integrity, but they did strike me as tight-knit. Where exactly did the kin folk go when Brian disappeared into his own world?
♪Wouldn’t it be nice if I were saner
Then I might get to live alone
And wouldn’t it be nice without retainer
For every single possession that I “own”
You know it’s gonna make it that much better
If … say, what is that? A bumblebee or something? Sorry, got distracted
Wouldn’t it be nice if I could wake up
In the morning knowing where I am?
And after having shunned the medication
Pretending my freedom’s not a sham♫
Rated PG-13, 121 Minutes
D: Bill Pohlad
W: Oren Moverman and Michael A. Lerner
Genre: Misunderstood genius
Type of person most likely to enjoy this film: Brian Wilson
Type of person least likely to enjoy this film: Dr. Eugene Landy
♪ Parody inspired by “Wouldn’t it be nice?”
