"Love & Mercy" - Board member reviews and discussion

[CenturyDeprived]

Fans of trivia and minutiae might be interested to know that the scene between the characters of Melinda and Landy that takes place in the alley behind Landy's office was filmed at a building near the corner of Westwood Blvd. and Ohio Ave. in West L.A. This, if I am not mistaken, was indeed the real life location of Landy's office/Brains & Genius.

I am most certainly a fan of trivia and minutiae, so thanks for that info! Looking at google maps, that intersection brings back memories of being a kid in the '80s in West LA. I guess Landy's office of Brains & Genius was right next to both the former location of All American Burger (Brian must've loved that on occasions where he might have been allowed a burger) as well as right next to the former location of Rhino Records.

[Justin]

One of the first that really gave me goosebumps was the 2nd shot of the movie.  As the soundtrack swirls with Atticus Ross' mashup you hear bits of "California Girls", "Help Me Rhonda", "Wendy" and others and slowly the darkened screen reveals an ear.  Then we see 4-5 seconds of Brian in bed at the Bel Air house circa 1970s.

When that shot came on the screen I remember gasping "Oh my God"---it was eerie how they got that shot perfectly just like the footage we've all seen countless times. 

[guitarfool2002]

Very perceptive about the pool scene with Van Dyke. The symbolism seems to be out in the open for sharp-eyed viewers to pick up, and very well executed and staged. I already have that in some additional commentary I've been trying to pull together about some more symbolic scenes and the way the filmmakers wove them into the story.

Look more at that swimming pool in the film, there are a lot of symbolic scenes centered around it, IMO.

[pixletwin]

Very perceptive about the pool scene with Van Dyke. The symbolism seems to be out in the open for sharp-eyed viewers to pick up, and very well executed and staged. I already have that in some additional commentary I've been trying to pull together about some more symbolic scenes and the way the filmmakers wove them into the story.

Look more at that swimming pool in the film, there are a lot of symbolic scenes centered around it, IMO.

There was one scene where Brian and Carl and Dennis were out on a deck talking about sticking together as brothers and then during the whole 2001 Space Odyssey scene we see the same set up with Brian and Carl, but Dennis is gone. Quite poignant.

[JakeH]

There was one scene where Brian and Carl and Dennis were out on a deck talking about sticking together as brothers and then during the whole 2001 Space Odyssey scene we see the same set up with Brian and Carl, but Dennis is gone. Quite poignant.

Yeah - that was maybe the saddest moment in the whole film, and it went by in less than a second. Very, very good movie.

[guitarfool2002]

Very perceptive about the pool scene with Van Dyke. The symbolism seems to be out in the open for sharp-eyed viewers to pick up, and very well executed and staged. I already have that in some additional commentary I've been trying to pull together about some more symbolic scenes and the way the filmmakers wove them into the story.

Look more at that swimming pool in the film, there are a lot of symbolic scenes centered around it, IMO.

There was one scene where Brian and Carl and Dennis were out on a deck talking about sticking together as brothers and then during the whole 2001 Space Odyssey scene we see the same set up with Brian and Carl, but Dennis is gone. Quite poignant.

Great catch, one of many! If you see the film again, take special note of what happens around and in that pool, and how other scenes are staged. In some cases the symbolism might not hit right away until other scenes are added up together. There seem to be a lot of symbolic scenes happening around that pool.

[pixletwin]

Well I am hitting viewing number 2 tonight, so I'll keep my eyes extra open. 

[sea of tunes]

I hate to bury this post in a LOVE & MERCY thread.  But I think in a way its related.  This is an inteview with Carl Wilson from 1984 discussing Beach Boys history, his own personal history and that of his big brother Brian.  A good section of the middle part of the interview is devoted to discussing many things Brian and production, etc.

In the wake of LOVE & MERCY, I find it interesting to listen to Carl's voice in such a wide ranging interview that takes place in a fairly close time in proximity to part of the film.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IsXfbTw7wnw

[MarcellaHasDirtyFeet]

Brian, lying on his back in bed, breathing heavily, almost in such a way that you can feel his despair.

The image still gives me goosebumps the day after watching L&M. What a great way to start the movie. But it's also the end of the movie, or it is for Paul Dano's Brian, at least. The ugliness and sadness and loneliness of The Bedroom Years was rightly left out of the movie; I couldn't have handled anymore of that despair than the glimpse we were given. Still, that future is always hovering over the 1960s parts of the film, a shadow at the edge of our vision. We know where this went, and in reality, Brian didn't escape it until his emancipation from Landy.

Love Melinda's portrayal. Despite the craziness going on around her, she remains thoroughly decent and intelligent-- picking her battles, she avoids goading Landy or arguing with him, and instead just moves forward. Great choice, using her as both our entrance point into Brian's world (exposition about his childhood, etc.) and the eventual savior.

I also really dug Marilyn, and would have loved more screen time for her. She's so sweet and supportive and loving, but most importantly, as Cusack-Brian notes, she was YOUNG. Hosting these swanky dinner parties celebrating her husband's success, inhabiting this beautiful home, but it's invaded by weirdness and illness and you can just see that she's lost in the woods.

Liked how they portrayed Dennis. The Carl's speaking voice sounded just like the Real Carl's. Al who?

Murry is FUCKING SCARY.

Mike Love-- I felt a bit defensive about poor ol' Mike after watching this movie. Didn't care for how aggressive the actor played the part, or how he was written. The scenes with Mike are the ones where I felt like I was watching a bad Beach Boys TV movie featuring former Hollywood star Paul Dano instead of a well-made independent film. Way too heavy handed, in my opinion. Now, if I hadn't been brainwashed by Cam Mott over these past few years, maybe I wouldn't mind, and if I wasn't a Beach Boys fan, maybe it would have been perfectly acceptable within the context of the film itself. Doesn't spoil anything, but it is a minor blemish.

I have also never been more aware of the soundscape of a movie, and it was glorious. The panning was really well done. Really ramped up the anxiety, those aural hallucination effects. Minor quibble-- they did some overdubbing (looping?) of some lines here and there, and they seemed to stand out like a sore thumb to me. I know it's standard practice, especially outdoor scenes, but it pulled me out of the film from time to time. Also, I thought Paul Dano's singing voice sounds a lot like Paul Dano and not Brian. The "double tracking" scenes were kind of silly in that it was clearly the Real BW singing in the headphones and Dano-Brian doubling him into the mic without making it sound particularly good. Meh.

Did any of the studio backing tracks during the Wrecking Crew portions sound like re-recordings to anyone else? Or have the originals been "cleaned up" somehow? A lot of the instrumental bits sounded just ever so slightly different than the original BB tracks.

I was probably (at 30 years old) the youngest person in the theater for my 4:30 p.m. Monday showing in Ithaca, NY, and there might have been a dozen or more people in attendance.

[sea of tunes]

Brian Wilson, Revisited

http://www.newsweek.com/2015/06/19/brian-wilson-revisited-340951.html

[petsoundsnola]

I'm not sure if this is the appropriate place to  discuss minor quibbles with the historical timelines, but here goes:

1. Murry didn't sell the rights to the Beach Boys' music until 1969, if I recall correctly, not in 1967 during the implosion of SMiLE.

2. Brian didn't make the decision to quit touring just prior to the Japan Tour and after Rubber Soul came out.

3. Brian had completed a track of Good Vibrations in February 1966 and an early version with Tony Asher's lyrics long before the "Tent in the Living Room/Piano in the Sandbox" timeframe of the SMiLE sessions.  The film makes it seems that during this latter SMiLE timeframe, after Pet Sounds was released, that Brian was just beginning to sketch out the song on piano in front of Mike.

These are only minor issues in my opinion that the vast majority of viewers would not notice, and I'm sure there are other ones I didn't catch.

[orange22]

Did any of the studio backing tracks during the Wrecking Crew portions sound like re-recordings to anyone else? Or have the originals been "cleaned up" somehow? A lot of the instrumental bits sounded just ever so slightly different than the original BB tracks.

I definitely noticed re-recordings Marcella, and I brought your point up in the L&M Soundtrack thread: http://smileysmile.net/board/index.php/topic,21958.0.html

[shadownoze]

Where are all the people who said that using the wrong truck in the Surfin' Safari cover shoot would make the entire movie uncreditable?

[JimC1702]

Saw it this afternoon in Saratoga Springs, NY.  There were 25-30 people, not bad for 3:50 PM matinee on a Tuesday.  It was dead silent in the theater throughout the movie and, as others have mentioned, not one person go up during the ending credits. 

I thought the movie was incredible, obviously much more meaningful to the BB/BW faithful.   My first watery eyes moment was Brian (Dano) singing "Caroline No". 

Cusack did a terrific job with the quirks and mannerisms of 80's Brian.  I got a kick out of the scene with Brian (Cusack) shouting to Melinda and then sheepishly admitting he'd forgotten her apartment number.    That's the Brian we know and love. 

Bring on the DVD and the soundtrack!

Jim

[wantsomecorn]

Very perceptive about the pool scene with Van Dyke. The symbolism seems to be out in the open for sharp-eyed viewers to pick up, and very well executed and staged. I already have that in some additional commentary I've been trying to pull together about some more symbolic scenes and the way the filmmakers wove them into the story.

Look more at that swimming pool in the film, there are a lot of symbolic scenes centered around it, IMO.

That was a great scene. From what I remember, I thought Carl was in the pool too, with his shirt on, while Dennis was in there also, shirt off.

The metaphor of Brian being in the deep end was great. Carl tries to coax him into coming into the shallow end so they can all talk easier, while Mike just wants Brian to cut the sh*t and get out of the pool. Al stood to the side too, but tried to keep out of any drama.

It captured their personalities perfectly, and you could still sympathize with Mike too, because Brian's behavior was really bizarre and unproductive. For better or worse (depending on whose opinion you prefer) Brian had gone off the deep end.


Another scene I love was the Mike-Brian relationship surrounding Good Vibrations. Mike goes from wanting to go back to the basics, and then a few scenes later, Murry comes over, playing them "I Live for the Sun", which he brags about as a return to form, claiming it'll be a gold record. Obviously it wasn't, and Mike approaches Brian later at the sandbox, wanting to make amends, but still awkward about how to do it. Brian cuts him off and they extend an olive branch towards each other by writing Good Vibrations.


And one last thing: just to show how disconnected Brian has become from his previous life, no other characters except Brian are featured in both parts of the movie. Only Carl gets close, having a phone call with Melinda, but his voice in inaudible.

[donald]

Apologies if this has already been reported, but the “numbers” are in from this weekend’s “limited” run. The film made approx.. $2,222,000 on 483 screens, for a “per screen” average of $4,600, which I believe is quite good. http://www.boxofficemojo.com/weekend/chart/

For a comparison, the biggest blockbuster film played on about 3,800 screens.

This puts it at something around #11 for the weekend in terms of total gross, but #5 in terms of dollars per screen. I believe this is considered a pretty good performance for what the mainstream media is characterizing as an “indie”, “Oscar bait” film.

The film will apparently add screens in the coming week(s).



Saw it this weekend. Will have a review soon…

glad to hear about a broader release.   A 4 hour round trip from here to see it...........all I get is poltergeist and paulblart the mall cop

[Compost]

This review is more for me than anything.  I need to be honest with myself.  I was as giddy as a kid weeks prior to the release (I'm 41).  Hadn't felt so irrationally jazzed for a long time.

But I gotta say...I'm a little disappointed and probably unjustly so.  Disappointed in myself maybe.

I loved the 60s scenes with Dano - totally absorbing, imaginatively rendered and totally believable.  Heartbreaking portrayal.  Fanboy porn.  Dano deserves some major kudos for his efforts.

And then there's the 80s.  Glossy gloss all over the place (as it was).  But too crisp.  No hairs out of place.  No sweat on upper lips or brows, as though the era were immune from dirt and oil.

And then there's Cusack.  

It was totally impossible for me to forget that it was John Cusack.  80s icon playing my beloved 60s icon in the 80s.  Double-jeopardy.  Triple even.  I've never felt that he was that good of an actor unless he was playing a caricature of himself.  

He gets the ticks and mannerisms down pat, absolutely, but it's always John Cusack before me.  I just couldn't get past it, and so for me, only half the film resonated.

I need to watch this film again, perhaps a little less critically - possibly drunk - and just let my guard down.  I feel like I was afraid to get hurt and was consequently wary throughout.  Like a kid again, scared of heartbreak.

There, I've said it.  I'll bet - I'll hope - that I'm going to really like this film later on but for now, I'll leave it at this:

It was more than I thought I'd ever see and possibly more than I can.

[CenturyDeprived]

I'm not sure if this is the appropriate place to  discuss minor quibbles with the historical timelines, but here goes:

1. Murry didn't sell the rights to the Beach Boys' music until 1969, if I recall correctly, not in 1967 during the implosion of SMiLE.

2. Brian didn't make the decision to quit touring just prior to the Japan Tour and after Rubber Soul came out.

3. Brian had completed a track of Good Vibrations in February 1966 and an early version with Tony Asher's lyrics long before the "Tent in the Living Room/Piano in the Sandbox" timeframe of the SMiLE sessions.  The film makes it seems that during this latter SMiLE timeframe, after Pet Sounds was released, that Brian was just beginning to sketch out the song on piano in front of Mike.

These are only minor issues in my opinion that the vast majority of viewers would not notice, and I'm sure there are other ones I didn't catch.

I loved the film VERY much, but my only quibble with this kind of stuff in the film was the scene where Melinda was driving a Cadillac Allante, circa 1992 (?) and almost runs Brian over, and they then go to Hawthorne. The fake license plate on the car in this scene is really bad! They got a bunch of other cars in the scene to have actual period California plates, not sure why they resorted to a fake plate with incorrect "California" font for the main car; but this is a minor quibble. Just had to share my (very) slight annoyance

[Junkstar]

Just got home from seeing the film. My only complaint is that it felt too much like a movie about Melinda to me. Great acting by all involved but the later years all seemed based on Melindas experience. Maybe if the early years had been based on Marilyn's experiences it might have balanced it out? My other takeaway was that this was probably not the best week for me to release a Murry Wilson tribute single. Fresh wounds...

[onkster]

Well, y'know I hate to be a downer--but Compost's reaction was almost identical to mine. Except I regard Cusack higher than Compost does.

Loved the 60s scenes so much, I wanted more of 'em. Maybe ALL of 'em--a whole movie of just that. Except that'd be a pretty sad ending unless they jumped to BWPS '04 to tie it all up.

After reading how much stuff was put into the movie, I was worried it'd feel rushed--yet when I saw it, a lot of it felt...slow. The score--this felt more like cool sound effects and editing rather than a score. Was expecting Landy to feel much worse than he came off. Murry felt appropriately sickening...I'm kinda glad we didn't have more of him in there.

I don't think this was a bad movie at all, and I'm still struck by the many excellent things in it, but...I didn't feel blown away as many here have.

Maybe part of the problem is knowing too much about the real-life story, and having already imagined so much of it in my head.

Like it...but wanted so badly to love it.

[Ray Lawlor]

Just got home from seeing the film. My only complaint is that it felt too much like a movie about Melinda to me. Great acting by all involved but the later years all seemed based on Melindas experience. Maybe if the early years had been based on Marilyn's experiences it might have balanced it out? My other takeaway was that this was probably not the best week for me to release a Murry Wilson tribute single. Fresh wounds...

It's never a good week to release a Murry Wilson tribute single.

[puni puni]

I agree that Landy was not portrayed as menacingly as others have said he was. He just comes across as a buffoon. And the '80s scenes were clearly told from Melinda's point of view because Brian could offer very little from his -- not conducive to the film when its least interesting moments fall upon Banks. Thankfully she only has about one or two scenes devoted to her alone.

[Ray Lawlor]

I agree that Landy was not portrayed as menacingly as others have said he was. He just comes across as a buffoon. And the '80s scenes were clearly told from Melinda's point of view because Brian could offer very little from his -- not conducive to the film when its least interesting moments fall upon Banks. Thankfully she only has about one or two scenes devoted to her alone.

Who says Brian can offer very little info from his point of view ? 

[bgas]

puni puni does

[puni puni]

Who says Brian can offer very little info from his point of view ? 

From recent interviews it seems Melinda has retained much more info about the Landy years than BW is willing to discuss. Melinda is also responsible for just about everything in the '80s portions according to Pohlad and Moverman.