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Critics Consensus: As unconventional and unwieldy as the life and legacy it honors, Love & Mercy should prove moving for Brian Wilson fans while still satisfying neophytes.
Critic Consensus: As unconventional and unwieldy as the life and legacy it honors, Love & Mercy should prove moving for Brian Wilson fans while still satisfying neophytes.
All Critics (203) | Top Critics (42) | Fresh (183) | Rotten (20)
We're shown so many symptoms that, regardless of which actor is playing the hero, there's little relief from the prevailing grimness, and less sense of a life in full.
When you consider all the ways that "Love & Mercy" could have gone terribly wrong, and how full of life it is in the end (and, yes, of love and mercy), I think the end product is almost miraculous.
Unnerving as it is thrilling, as visually and aurally vivid as it is emotionally harrowing.
Dano and Cusack never let us forget that Wilson is human before he is anything else - genius, icon, legend.
The performances are universally great, and the subject matter is captivating.
After seeing "Love & Mercy," you'll find it nearly impossible to resist the urge to download (or re-listen to) a dozen Beach Boys classics.
Love & Mercy is always interesting, but it's only occasionally illuminating.
My only beef would be the casting of Elizabeth Banks, who lacks a certain depth the role requires. Other than that, it's two hours of great music and great acting.
Its deepest truth isn't the stuff of tell-all biography: the movie shows the kind of personal obsession and hard work that goes into a seemingly carefree pop masterpiece.
The film's discrepancies ... make for a disorienting journey that may be better spent listening to Pet Sounds one more time.
This biopic is well worth watching because it is unlike any you have ever scene. It is not formulaic and deftly manages to avoid the clichés that so many biopics embrace - rags to riches etc.
The writing, directing and above all else, the performances of the main cast, are absolutely outstanding.
A look at the year or two that proved to be the most creative for Mr. Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys, the reckless self-medication that accompanied those times (as well as ever-so-slight nods as to why he did), and what was left of the man when he emerged from the other side. It's okay but it's very clean, and certainly not the tale of a survivor that it hints that it might be.
Super Reviewer
"Love & Mercy" has some of the best acting I have seen from John Cusack, but there are script and direction weaknesses that make the story dull and incoherent at times. This story might have seen better told linearly.
"Love & Mercy" follows young and older Brian Wilson and his band, The Beach Boys. While we flash back and forth between the bands struggles and triumphs, and into the future where he is trying to find love and dealing with Schizophrenia, the film's deep vibes and meaningful visuals made me very emotional. Paul Dano is incredible in his portrayal of Brian Wilson and John Cusack plays his illness very well. Elizabeth Banks really felt like someone who had no idea how to handle this situation. In the end, "Love & Mercy" satisfies with brilliant writing, superb direction, and a story that is much more worth telling than I expected it to. I really loved watching this film and it displays amazing performances all around and celebrates their best music in style. This is not a film you should miss. Definitely worth it's praise.
Brian Wilson's records Pet Sounds and, in another story, falls in love with a car dealer. This film alternates between two stories of Brian Wilson's life, and both are compelling and incredibly well-acted. John Cusack and Paul Dano are at top form, and their performances are the highlights of this strong, interesting, and heartfelt film. Paul Giamatti plays older Wilson's psychiatrist cum legal guardian, who is scamming Wilson for his fortune and talent, and younger Wilson's Beach Boys brethren vie for control of the band, the artistic sense of which Wilson wants to take in new Beatles-imitation directions. For a while, I was so compelled by the pitch-perfect story-telling and wonderful performances that I considered whether Love and Mercy might be the best film of the year, better than Ex Machina, but no, sadly, Elizabeth Banks's role fall in to the "helping woman" cliche, and there are some objectiveless, wandering scenes that only Dano's talent makes interesting. Overall, God only know what would be a better Brian Wilson biopic.
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