It is a rarity these days to view a movie that inspires and is moving, but that certainly was the case with the new biopic on Beach Boy Brian Wilson, Love & Mercy. I viewed the movie last evening and returned home a couple of hours ago.
Although I generally dislike movies that flip back and forth in time periods, but Love & Mercy uses the technique to great effect. It goes from the latter day Brian Wilson (played very effectively by John Cusack) to the earlier (1960s) Brian Wilson (with a great performance by Paul Dano as the younger Wilson as he slides into mental illness) and back again.
At present, Love & Mercy scores an 88% at Rotten Tomatoes (with an audience score of 96%).
The movie does gloss over some things and, according to some critics, gets some facts wrong. My date wanted to see how the greedy manipulative doctor and guardian Paul Landy got into Wilson's life to almost destroy him through his greed and incompetence. She also would have liked to have seen the court hearing removing him from Wilson's care and life. I agree. Landy may well have succeeded in destroying Wilson had it not for the intervention of Melinda Ledbetter, who later became Mrs. Brian Wilson. It would be interesting if such a court hearing scene were filmed and is included in the DVD/Blu-ray release.
Love & Mercy is still a well-made, although unconventional, dramatization of Brian Wilson's life that leaves the viewer very satisfied and moved.
The finishing touch, that brought tears to the audience, was the appearance of the real Brian Wilson singing "Love & Mercy" during the end credits.
Thus far, Love & Mercy is the best movie I've seen all year.
My grade: A+.
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