Switching alternately between recording of the seminal Beach Boys album ‘Pet Sounds‘ and the lost, manipulated soul he was until meeting second wife Melinda Ledbetter in the mid-80s, the Brian Wilson biopic ‘LOVE AND MERCY‘ (dir Bill Pohland, 121 minutes, 2014), is an admirable attempt to show why and how this creative genius was so conflicted at these junctures.
making of ‘Pet Sounds’
In 1966 when setting his sights on creating ‘the greatest album ever made‘ (some of us contend he did), in order to fulfill this ambition Brian – played superbly in this era by Paul Dano – has withdrawn from the touring version of the Beach Boys in order to bring his grand plan to fruition.
But conveying the wondrous sounds Wilson hears in his head, even to top rank LA session players known as ‘The Wrecking Crew’, proves a strenuous task – his state of mind made even more fragile by a deteriorating relationship with Beach Boys front man Mike Love and the disdain he receives from abusive father Murray Wilson, the man from whom he most craves approval.
Younger Wilson brothers in the Beach Boys, drummer Dennis and guitarist Carl, offer reassurance from a distance, not entirely convinced his musical vision for the group is attuned to the times or that of their audience.
When the story switches to the 80s, Brian – now played impressively by John Cusack, although Dano has the advantage of being a ringer for a twenty-something Brian Wilson – is a sad, heavily medicated figure, who has fallen under the dubious, controlling influence of his psychotherapist Dr Eugene Landy (portrayed with great aplomb by Paul Giamatti).
He meets Ledbetter (Elizabeth Banks), a Cadillac saleswoman, when he goes to buy a car, their first conversation taking place in the model Wilson wants to purchase – a reference to the death of his brother ‘two years ago‘ (Dennis Wilson drowned in December 1983), setting the scene in 1985.
But more telling is the note he leaves for Ledbetter on the front seat, which reads ‘lonely, scared, confused.’
Describing himself as ‘Brian’s brother from another mother,’ the pervasive Landy has a tight hold on every aspect of Wilson’s life as Ledbetter soon discovers – their early courtship conducted within sight and sound of Landy or one of his acolytes. From these exchanges we learn Wilson is estranged from the two daughters of his first marriage, his mother and the Beach Boy collective – the distance created by Landy in the ‘best interests‘ of his patient.
Back in 1966, Wilson, spurred on by the level of artistic accomplishment attained by The Beatles on ‘Rubber Soul‘, forges on with his ambitious intentions and despite father Murray dismissing ‘God Only Knows‘ as ‘wishy-washy – more a suicide note than a pop song,’ the session musicians begin to realise something magical is happening. At the end of one session renowned drummer Hal Blaine (Johnny Sneed) tells Wilson:
‘We’ve worked with Sinatra, Dean Martin, Elvis, Sam Cooke, Phil Spector – but you’ve blown our minds Brian.’
But on hearing the groundbreaking melodies Wilson and the ‘Wrecking Crew’ have cut in readiness for Beach Boy vocals to be added, Love complains they are being used as session singers for a Brian Wilson solo album and what he has heard is not ‘Beach Boys music.’
From the negativity of Love and his father – whose criticisms and concerns regarding ‘Pet Sounds‘ are borne out by its commercial failure – twenty years later Wilson has the domineering Landy to contend with, his relationship with Ledbetter coming to an end due to suffocating interference.
But in realising how emotionally vulnerable Wilson has become, Melinda enlists help from a member of Landy’s household staff in order to prove how much manipulation has occurred – and into her possession comes Wilson’s ‘Last Will and Testament‘ that lists Dr Eugene Landy as the main beneficiary.
From that point onward the life of Brian Wilson takes a significant upward turn – Landy is vanquished, he begins more appropriate forms of treatment for his mental health issues and as the film depicts, two years later reacquaints with Ledbetter, the couple going on to marry and have five children.
‘Love and Mercy‘ is a stand out rock music biopic and not simply because the artist at its core is an authentic genius, greatness not necessarily ensuring a fine film as portrayals of Jimi Hendrix and Gram Parsons attest.
Having access to the original music helps, Wilson filmed over the closing credits giving a moving rendition of the song ‘Love and Mercy‘ to an awestruck audience.
But it works for being an excellent ensemble piece, the fine performances of Dano, Cusack, Banks and Giamatti, aided by a decent script and clear sense of purpose in focusing on two key chapters rather than offering a thinly drawn biography – the Beach Boys rise to fame is effectively portrayed over the opening titles.
True, the years Brian Wilson lost to alcohol, drugs and psychosis in many forms are not presented, although referred to during an early chaperoned liaison with Ledbetter who says, ‘I read somewhere you stayed in bed for two years,’ to which Wilson responds defensively with ‘that’s not true,’ adding in all seriousness, ‘it was three.’
Indeed, the most revelatory aspect of ‘Love and ‘Mercy‘ is not the extraordinary music Brian Wilson made at these moments in his life – ‘Pet Sounds‘ arguably the most enduring album of the 1960s, the 1988 ‘Brian Wilson’ comeback album a memorable effort (for which it must be noted Landy took an ‘Executive Producer’ credit) – but given his frailties and conflictions, how it ever emerged at all.
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NEIL SAMBROOK is the author of ‘MONTY’S DOUBLE‘ – an acclaimed thriller now available in paperback and as an Amazon Kindle book.