The Beach Boys have always been an important part of my life. My dad brought home a cassette copy of Endless Summer (one of their many greatest-hits albums) when I was around eight years old, and listening to it was a formative experience for me. Ever since then, I've sought to learn everything I could about the group,
As I studied, I learned that the best things about the Beach Boys came from Brian Wilson. Brian was a musical genius. Brian usually didn't write his own lyrics, but, when he was paired with the right lyricist, he was able to reach under his shy exterior and make his insecurities known. Brian's insecurities & fears were similar to my own, so his songs always resonated with me. I could totally relate with the feelings of loneliness, insecurity and wanting to be accepted. I've always felt a kinship with Brian, so, when a Brian Wilson biopic was announced, I was excited. That movie was titled Love & Mercy.
Tonight, I got a chance to see Love & Mercy. I went into the theater happy, and I came out in a fighting mood. I would say that it's one of the worst films I've seen this year.
Both stories are interesting, and they could have been made into a good movie. Unfortunately, the director, writer, and editor (who will remain nameless to protect the guilty) decided to pull a Tarantino and mix the two stories together willy-nilly. I'm sure the filmmakers thought they were being artsy, but they just made a mess. I could almost work out what was going on, but that was only because I'd read about all this stuff before.
Speaking of being artsy, the worst part of the movie was when the filmmakers decided to tack on a weird dream sequence (that they totally ripped off from 2001: A Space Odyssey) for no apparent reason. THAT scene was so bad I wanted to puke (not even kidding).
The acting was blah. Most of the actors phoned in their parts, with the exceptions of Paul Giamatti, who spent most of the movie yelling, and Paul Dano, who actually did a decent job. It wasn't the worst thing in the film, but it wasn't good, either (except for Dano).
I will say that the cinematography in the 1960s scenes was pretty cool. The cinematographer did an awesome job of saturating the color, making those scenes look like they were shot in classic Technicolor. He also recreated a black-and-white Beach Boys video, and he did a great job with the film grain & black-and-white cinematography. Unfortunately, he got lazy during the 1980s scenes, which were lit flatly and were dull to look at.
The only really great thing about Love & Mercy was the music, but that was because it was the original Beach Boys tracks. They were shining beacons in a pile of crap.
Love & Mercy should have been a great movie; the subject matter is interesting, and Brian Wilson deserves a great biopic. The filmmakers REALLY fouled it up, though. If you really want to learn about Brian Wilson & the Beach Boys, you'd be better off reading Peter Ames Carlin's Catch A Wave or seeing the 2000 TV movie about the group. Stay away from Love & Mercy, though! You have been warned!
Rating: One out of five stars
