Bill Pohlad’s Love & Mercy tells the story of Beach Boys lead Brian Wilson as he deals with mental issues while working on a change of direction for the band in the 1960s coupled with his troubled life with a shady therapist in the 1980s.

The life of Brian Wilson is an interesting one so it’s definitely a good story to cover in a biopic such as this. Love & Mercy connects two important periods of Brian’s life through the central theme of finding his voice. BLove & Mercyrian Wilson in the 60s is played by Paul Dano who puts himself into exile to work on a new sound for the band and Brian Wilson in the 80s is played by John Cusack at a point in his life where has been exiled from life against his will.

A tightly focused narrative on pivotal points in Brian Wilson’s life really serves this film well. The story takes the time it needs to explore the emotional impact of these points rather than rushing past them to get to the next thing. It feels almost like a documentary some of the time.

Paul Dano has the most to work with here and he does a great job at capturing the nuance of the young Brian Wilson at a pivotal point in his career. I always found it believable that he knew his stuff about music and the creative process. Dano gives the role an infectious sense of energy that is always a lot of fun to watch. There’s always a dark edge to everything he does as Wilson is spiraling further into depression as time goes on. The basic structure has his decline be the inverse to his creativity so the more music he creates the worse his mental state gets.

The film spends quite a bit of time establishing Brian Wilson in the 60s so the audience gets a good idea of who he is before his problems really began which makes the transition all the more powerful. His world is seen to be quite a poisonous one with various influences colouring his perception and his strained relationship with his father (Bill Camp).

Lots of this part of the film is set in confined locations like recording studios where the lack of space is clearly shown. The audience can almost feel the walls closing in on Brian as he slowly loses it. That level of isolation can’t be good for anyone and the film shows that it’s certainly not good for Brian.

John Cusack’s Brian Wilson is pretty much the opposite. Gone is that youthful energy or even the spark of life that is so prominent in Dano’s performance. Cusack plays the shell of the man he once was as his condition has completely run its course. The performance is more subdued but no less powerful as Brian Wilson has become someone who isn’t in control of his life and only has a basic awareness of the world around him.

His connection to the world around him manifests itself in his relationship with Melinda Ledbetter, (Elizabeth Banks) a car saleswoman he meets when looking for a new car. She finds herself taken by him and starts to notice that he might not be getting the best care from his full time carer Dr. Eugene Landy (Paul Giamatti). It’s not difficult to find out that Landy is something of a villainous presence as Giamatti plays him as being slimy and constantly unsettling. Maybe it was that obvious in reality I’m not sure.

This part of the film treats Wilson as something of a secondary character with Melinda taking the lead here. It makes sense from a storytelling point of view as at this point in his life Wilson has a complete lack of agency so is incapable of thinking for himself or doing anything under his own power. It’s quite heartbreaking to see such an iconic figure reduced to a husk of his former self.

John Cusack and Elizabeth Banks have excellent chemistry in these scenes and Banks delivers a solid leading performance as a woman who will do anything to help someone when she knows that they’re being treated unfairly. There’s a goodness to her and an inherent strength that makes her very engaging to watch.

The 1960s scenes are stronger than the scenes set in the 1980s but both have their merits. At times the 1980s scenes have a tendency to run a little long and on occasion repeat a point that had already been well made earlier. It’s all entertaining to watch but occasionally drags as repetition sets in.

This is definitely worth checking out. It’s a fascinating look at the life of a musical icon and always entertaining throughout. The dual performances of Paul Dano and John Cusack as Brian Wilson at different points in his life work really well as they feel different enough while still being the same person. Despite a tendency to drag in the 1980s set scenes this is a definite must see.