Love and Mercy

[moqui]

I'm a huge Brian Wilson fan - I think his best compositions are the best of the entire rock era - so this movie was an easy sell for me. I am going to give this a pretty strong recommendation, despite the fact that I didn't really like John Cusack's half of the performance. Nothing wrong with Cusack, but it paled in comparison to Paul Dano's version of the younger Brian Wilson.

I will say that it was a bit of a self-serving story - it soft peddles the fact that Wilson was to a large degree responsible for his own downfall, and it overstates the role that his future wife played in pulling him from the grips of his Svengali (she was important, but it was his brother, Carl Wilson, actually initiated that fight).

 

[Toga]

I'm a huge Brian Wilson fan - I think his best compositions are the best of the entire rock era - so this movie was an easy sell for me. I am going to give this a pretty strong recommendation, despite the fact that I didn't really like John Cusack's half of the performance. Nothing wrong with Cusack, but it paled in comparison to Paul Dano's version of the younger Brian Wilson.

I will say that it was a bit of a self-serving story - it soft peddles the fact that Wilson was to a large degree responsible for his own downfall, and it overstates the role that his future wife played in pulling him from the grips of his Svengali (she was important, but it was his brother, Carl Wilson, actually initiated that fight).

I plan on seeing this. My understanding is that his father really 'ed him up.

 

[moqui]

I plan on seeing this. My understanding is that his father really 'ed him up.

yeah, he was a nasty piece of work

but Wilson's drug abuse is what did him in at the pinnacle of his career. you can plausibly argue that he was self-medicating, but he really overdid it.

 

[donniesyracuse]

I am mad at myself for not seeing this sooner because Pet Sounds is one of my obsessions. I thought the movie was excellent. Cusack, Dano, and Banks delivered "Oscar-worthy" performances.

 

[cuseattle]

I really liked it. Watched it twice.

 

[donniesyracuse]

Fellow Brian Wilson fans,

Which version of SMiLE do you prefer, the solo release from 2004 or one that was compiled from the old studio recordings as part of the SMiLE Sessions? We will never know the real SMiLE. This is a tragedy, but it is also cool because the album has become one of the great legends of pop music. It is fun to ask what could have been. Both of the releases do a nice job of suggesting what SMiLE could have been. There are pros and cons to both.

Brian Wilson SMiLE:
Pros: It is finished, it was put together by the master himself, Wilson prefers this version
Cons: None of the other Beach Boys appear on the LP, this is the 2004 Brian Wilson, not the 1967 Brian Wilson (who knows how different it would have been), it feels more like a recorded version of his SMiLE live show than a studio masterpiece

The Beach Boys The SMiLE Sessions:
Pros: This is the Brian Wilson of 1967, the Beach Boys are on it, it is a better demonstration of studio mastery in its time
Cons: It feels unfinished, Brian prefers the other version

 

[tep624]

Thought Paul Dano was fantastic in this. Pet sounds is still one of my favorite albums.