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Love & Mercy (2015), PG-13, ★★★1/2

It is paradise, well, not really for Brian Wilson. 
An explorational voyage of a musical icon can take you on a distinctive route than other biopics can take you. This movie, in particular, is an odyssey of self-conflict with themselves and also with other people. Musical biopics can take an artist's story and turn the artist into a narcissistic dignitary who has it all. But, this movie is different because it deals with one side a different way as when that icon is at the height of his success, his world is turned upside down being manipulated by a haze of drugs prescribed to him to "help" him. The movie creates a sound of profound and auditory experience with  raw emotion wrapped around it.

The movie interweaves in two time periods in the 1960s and in the late 1980s. In the 1960s, young Brian Wilson (Paul Dano) is staying home to write music while his clients and friends, The Beach Boys, are going on tour. He assures them that the song will great. He plays part of Only God Knows for his father but his father responds to Brian that the song is not good enough. However, in the studio, the musicians think that Brian is a musical genius.

In the 1980s, we see an older Brian Wilson (John Cusack) meeting a car saleswoman named Melinda Ledbetter (Elizabeth Banks). He acts strange towards her and she wants to know who he is and then his doctor, Dr. Eugene (Gene) Landy (Paul Giamatti) shows up and gives a note to her saying that Brian is "sad, lonely". Things go well briefly but Gene always seems to interfere with his life and his dates. Melinda visits Gene and he tells her that Brian is a paranoid schizophrenic. Melinda and Brian cannot catch a break as they just want to simply be alone but Gene's antics seem to stall Brian's life and his relationship with Melinda.

Paul Dano as young Brian Wilson.
I went into this movie cold but I knew the movie was described to me as a product of The Beach Boys. I don't regard this film as a product but it is a lovely palette of great music and color that is refreshing to experience on-screen and then after the movie is over, you cannot resist to listen to many of the great Beach Boys songs again. Plus, it is a sonnet to artistry and good vibrations that  blend creation and innovation into one that creates an attractive atmosphere that people can enjoy listening to than to listening at the songs. This movie reminded me of Amadeus which also celebrated the pure joy of creating music and writing lyrics to future and potential classic songs.

John Cusack gives a detailed and meticulous performance as the older Brian Wilson as we see poignancy, vulnerability and mannerisms from him when he is detached from reality as we pay attention to his speech impediment and the way he communicates with other people. Paul Dano also stands out as the younger Brian who is restrained and just right as he wants to be detached from the Beach Boys to write the songs and create music. They are both wonderful. Elizabeth Banks has a thankless role as the girlfriend but she gives a different and patient performance as she tries to truly care for Brian without interference. Speaking of which, Paul Giamatti is chilling and incredible as an abusing person controlling and verbally abusing Brian. He is quite a scary character.

It is a nearly great film with a few quibbles regarding how they handled the older Brian Wilson towards the end with Gene but other than that, it is a movie that comes out of nowhere that is a breath of fresh air. Normally, I do not care for musical biopics because in my personal opinion, I think that Amadeus and Sid and Nancy are the best movies and even though there are a few good ones recently, this movie is about in the top-tier level of the biopics. This movie is a glimpse of the drama that Brian Wilson has to overcome the struggles and has overcome to be the main voice of his own career. It is a surprisingly good movie.

***1/2

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