Written by Abby Akarapongpisadki

The musical biopic is an entity that has recently garnered a new lease of life, thanks to the injection of several box offices successes in the genres. Rocketman (Dexter Fletcher, 2019), Straight Outta Compton (F. Gary Gray, 2015) and Bohemian Rhapsody (Bryan Singer, 2018) were all successful at the box office, and garnered award nominations and wins, particularly off the strengths of leads such as Rami Malek and Taron Egerton. However, a lot of these blockbuster biopics run majorly on the sense of feel-good nostalgia, and end up resembling ‘montages of happiness’, most evident when music biopics end up as re-enacted concert films, such as the 20-minute long segment of Live Aid at the end of Bohemian Rhapsody.

Love & Mercy (Bill Pohlad, 2015) is another musical biopic that came out during this era of the blockbuster musical biopic, however, it approaches this topic in a substantially different way, and in a particularly different tone. The movie follows the story of the Beach Boys’ creative genius, Brian Wilson, in two key moments that shape his life. This is a substantial difference from the general biopic, which attempts to dilute an entire artist’s life into 2 hours, as a result, particularly important sections end up being diminished. By focusing on these two periods of Wilson’s life, the audience still gets a full impression of what makes Brian Wilson who he is.

In addition, the film ends up casting two different actors for these two parts, Paul Dano plays Brian Wilson in the 1960s, in the midst of recording his masterpiece, Pet Sounds, and John Cusack plays Brian Wilson in the 1980s, in the midst of a controlling ‘guardianship’ under psychologist Eugene Landy. Dano’s more energetic and emotionally charged performance counteracted by Cusack’s more muted, almost emotionless performance is a good representation of a man who was changed by his experiences during this time.

The tone of this movie also does a lot to represent its faithfulness to the experiences of Brian Wilson. While Freddie Mercury’s experiences with disease and problems may be boiled down in feel-good sing-along, Wilson’s problems are laid out to dry in Love & Mercy; as the man says, the Beach Boys were not about sunshine, girls and surfing, the reality was much sadder, and it makes for a more gripping watch.

The most important aspect however, is a rather understated one, the sound design and manipulation of the Beach Boys material by Atticus Ross, famous for his work with Trent Reznor on The Social Network (David Fincher, 2010), perfectly encapsulates the mind of someone who was known to see music in his mind. The dining room table scene with the chaotic cutlery, along with the scene with the studio headphones, it is perfectly chaotic and a fantastic representation of a man who was struggling with his grip on reality.

Love & Mercy succeeds where other biopics don’t by taking the formula and twisting it slightly; by representing the truth in tone. Movies about music don’t always have to be cheery nostalgia trips, the truth is almost more dour, and as with the life of Brian Wilson, Love & Mercy is often depressing viewing, but its execution makes it all the more worthwhile.