EssenceStory Well Deserved Praise

Sexylocher Masterful Movie

Inadvands Boring, over-political, tech fuzed mess

Wyatt There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

lmabadie I enjoyed the early Beach Boys parts of the story and I wished they had been longer. Paul Dano made a great job as the young Brian Wilson and those parts of the movie were very good. I also wished there had been more of their early music and the group beginnings and rise to fame, maybe exploring better the conflict relationship with their father. The later parts of the story were not of the same level. John Cusak was a poor casting for the role of the older Brian WIlson. There is nothing likable about his character and it was difficult to see what made his future wife get attracted to him, other than his bank account. It is the victors who write the history books, or in this case they are the ones that will sell the rights to the movie and control how some character, including themselves will be depicted. Maybe I am totally wrong about this, I have no way to know, but the important thing is that this is the way the movie made me feel while watching it, that it was a struggle about who would control Brian Wilson fortunes.

Marc Israel When a movie tries so hard to be sympathetic, that view point can come across as forced. In "Love & Mercy" director Brian Pohlad fails to bring the story to a higher level of appreciation due to the sensitive nature of doing a bio on a living legend and asking for our love and mercy for Beach Boy madman Brian Wilson. We bask in Paul Dano's Brian - past, an innocent portrayal of the "Pet Sounds" era and then suffer through the later years where John Cusaks Brian - future comes across as straight cliché where the actual history is even darker. Must have been tough to swim in that small vector pool of history, obligation and entertainment. The film works best in the music studio showing the relationships, musical commitment and Brian Wilson energy that carried The Beach Boys on his back.For me, that was worth it on those merits, but I'd admit feeling that the later Brian years fell short as did in reality, leaving a bit of a vacuous feeling at the conclusion. I saw Brian perform live with both Paul & John at a benefit in Tysons, Corner, VA for GIVE AN HOUR which was bringing attention to mental disabilities after seeing the movie only months prior and that was a blast!

cbddbc ...that I missed over an 18-year period, I am in 2014 and have finally seen "Love & Mercy" and wishing that I had started from 2016 and gone back because this is one helluva find.I don't do reviews. I don't do reviews because I am an amateur movie-watcher. But when I come across a gem like this I just want to say "Damn. That was one good movie." Oh, Elizabeth Banks. I guess that this was the first time that I had ever seen her in anything. I couldn't help but think that I HAD seen her before... but I was thinking of Elisabeth Shue in "Leaving Las Vegas." I will be looking at some of her films and TV appearances, now. Banks, Dano and Cusack are just brilliant - but a special nod has to go to Dano: he's the sun and everyone else is a planet - brilliant planets.And that's what I have to say about "Love & Mercy." For various reasons I've kept up with Brian Wilson's career as he returned to making astounding music and going from "Love You" ("The Beach Boys Love You:?) to "Brian Wilson." Is he a music genius? Probably -- If I were to meet him, I wouldn't tell him, though. I've never heard of anyone else write of Wilson as an influence on Steely Dan, but I hear it. I'm an admirer, a fan, and I see this as one of the finest biopics ever made... I know that it was Wilson-approved but I know, too, that the movie depicted Wilson's mental health problems realistically: watch some of the movements that Cusack/Wilson makes with his arms and there are the audio hallucinations, of course.A damned good movie. I'm not sure how I missed it. So glad that I saw it, though.

grantss The story of Brian Wilson, the creative force behind the Beach Boys. Most particularly the movie focuses on the mental issues he had, how these affected his creativity, relationships and life. The story is told from two periods in his life - the mid-60s, when the Beach Boys were at their peak and the late-80s/early-90s when Wilson is under the control of Dr Eugene Landy, whose diagnosis, motives and methods are rather dubious. In this latter period we also meet Melinda Ledbetter, a woman who Brian Wilson has a relationship with and who may be his salvation.Great movie. A good look inside the mind of a tortured genius. We see the amount of creativity and musicality present in Brian Wilson and it is staggering. A musical genius whose genius may well have been his undoing. There's a fine line between genius and madman.The creativity part is largely covered in the 60s part, where Wilson is superbly played by Paul Dano.The 80s/90s part is more about the abuse he suffered at the hands of Dr Landy and also his relationship with Melinda Ledbetter. While John Cusack (in his first decent role, and best performance, in several years) gives a solid performance as Wilson this part is less effective than the 60s part. Not bad, just doesn't have the same momentum and feel as the 60s part, feeling more negative and a bit clumsy. Good work by Elizabeth Banks as Ledbetter though.Overall, a very good representation of two crucial points in Brian Wilson's life. Good have been even better if the movie had concentrated on one of the two, as it feels a bit diluted in its current form.