| This is an affecting biographical film about the great Brian Wilson, visionary genius of the Beach Boys. The outline of his story is surely well known to anyone who likes music.
It’s an intercutting of two periods of his life, firstly in the sixties (Paul Dano plays Wilson) as he is writing and creating Pet Sounds, and then on to the eighties when he was under the control of his therapist and guardian Eugene Landy.
In the sixties Wilson was keen to move away from the sun and surf songs. “We’re not real surfers, and surfers don’t dig what we do!” he said. The family group, especially cousin Mike Love, didn’t share his views though they did stick around and eventually benefit. Wilson’s father though was a much bigger obstacle, a hard and practical man who wasn’t impressed by his son’s talents and told him so to hurtful effect.
Thankfully Wilson didn’t give in to the pressures and pressed on to produce “Caroline No”, “Good Vibrations” and “Surf’s Up” and so much else, though it took its toll on him (as presumably did the drugs). It’s thrilling to watch him work obsessively on his ideas, even as he descended into craziness.
Paul Dano is perfect as the younger Brian Wilson, he looks like a Beach Boy and his enthusiasm sparkles as the music emerges.
John Cusack looks less like Wilson but also turns in a great performance, dreadfully in awe of Eugene Landy (a performance almost too evil from Paul Giamatti. He even has evil hair).
The saving grace is that he meets Meilinda Ledbetter in a car showroom, and they start a relationship which in spite of Landy’s best efforts, she fights to maintain.
We can’t know if it happened exactly like this but it fits the facts, and it’s great to see him emerge at the end, if not unscathed then at least in one piece.
And the music will never die, even though his dad said “In five years no-one will remember you or the Beach Boys”.
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