"Love & Mercy" (2014)

I remember when I was about 9 years old and I saw one of those circulars in the back of a magazine that you could get 10 tapes for the price of a penny. Of course it meant you had to buy 5 more tapes. As a kid you never read the fine print (of course, the people who created this ruse never read the fine print of the law in terms of having a minor sign a contract…yeah NOT legal or binding).

Anyway, the first batch of albums I got a lot of Huey Lewis. And I got The Beach Boys “Made In The USA.” This was not an official record, rather a “best of” compilation. Which was pulled from the era when they were doing surf music. Boy, I listened to that tape until it fell apart. Surf music was America. It was suntans and beautiful babes. Relaxing under the sun.

“Love & Mercy” took a while to be released (I scanned this film about two years earlier). It actually was shown last year. But seemed to have disappeared. Until, Lionsgate got a hold of it. I can understand why the delay…

…I’d never claim to know Brian Wilson’s past. Only recall seeing young, fit folk on the beach. However, the 80’s Brian Wilson, I remember seeing bearded and fat. The guy seemed to have been sucked in by some mental problem. But back in the 80’s we just chalked it up the same way we did to Elvis. They get complacent and ride the coattails of their past glory.

Those going into this movie expecting an origin story of The Beach Boys are going to be SORELY disappointed. It’s more about Brian Wilson’s slide into a mental instability based on his appointed doctor named Eugene Landy, basically usurping his ability to function without his radical behavior modification system and a ton of debilitating drugs. He, in essence, becomes Brian’s surrogate father played viciously by Paul Giamatti. And it’s brutal to watch a grown man being treated like a child.

What this movie does gloss over are a lot of things I think may’ve strengthen Brian’s life (though not necessary). His two brothers seemed to have been generally muted. Very little input came from them. But their cousin Mike Love, became the outspoken mouthpiece of the audience (as he now tours with The Beach Boys experience). He’s the one with the hat that says he’s a Beach Boy. He loves that shit. The Jimmy Buffet Hawaiian shirt lifestyle before Jimmy Buffet. He is the sole standout for the pop stuff Brian desperately wanted to get out from under. History also shows his affinity for the old days as when he re-upped with a few members of the original crew, but also for the younger market (in a move so comically ridiculous) recruits John Stamos. Mercifully, this is never shown in the movie. Nor is the tragically popular “Kokomo” hit which is credited to The Beach Boys.

Which brings me to roughly around the time Brian meets Melinda Ledbetter (Elizabeth Banks). A car salesperson who randomly meets Brian. In this story, she is painted out to be the calm voice to Brian’s voices. It is a strange meeting, and one would believe had it not been his celebrity, would she still be involved with a mental case? Most likely not. In in act where truth is stranger than fiction, they do start a courtship. And a love grows from it. Although, it’s hard to reason why. I suppose one must have to deal with it to truly understand. Or she just has a soft spot for broken people.  Banks plays it so lovely. She’s beautiful and sweet, and oftentimes patient with abrasive people. She tolerates it, in hopes Landy is on the level. But she also has a fighter’s spirit. Banks has an AMAZING talent of going from bubbly fun girl to bitch on heels in the next. This is a great dynamic, when she spars with Landy.

I really dig this movie. In the sense that it gets you an insight on “genius.” As I mentioned above, I scanned this movie and recall a scene where Brian runs into Phil Spector. According to lore, Brian would blast the “wall of sound” through his home, to the aggravation of his children. Would’ve been nice to see that. Also, and this will bum a ton of “Pet Sounds” out, they hardly mention the arms race they had with The Beatles. As most know, there was an ENORMOUS respect between The Beatles and The Beach Boys. But it wasn’t the Beach Boys, it was Brian Wilson that had been singled out as the mind that blew the Beatles. “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts” was an answer to “Pet Sounds.” Personally both are ridiculously overrated albums. But they constantly were battling over this “new sound” to break new ground attitude. That’s amazing, if you consider that…over 60% of rock bands would cite The Beatles as an influence. But the The Beatles cited Brian Wilson as an influence.

The other cool thing about this flick is that they have TWO actors playing Brian. Paul Dano and John Cusack. Dano is the 60's in the midst of Beach Boys transition, and Brian in the grasp of 80's to 90's, when you see the aftermath. Both are REALLY engaging. And it didn't matter to me that they look nothing alike. If you consider your own life, you could be seen as two different people as well. That's genius concept.