Did C50 have any effect on the film Love & Mercy, and vice versa?

[CenturyDeprived]

I'm trying to see how Love & Mercy in its current form would have gotten released if C50 had not imploded the way it did.

How far into development was Love & Mercy at the time of C50?

I'm guessing that current-day Mike isn't going to be thrilled with his final portrayal in the film Love & Mercy, even though IMO it's fair and doesn't seem to perpetuate false information about Mike (though it doesn't exactly play Mike's positive contributions "up", which would probably be what would irritate Mike out the most).

What I'm pondering is, was Mike in any way "in the know" about what the film was going to be about, how he himself would be portrayed in the film, either during or pre C50? And I do wonder if he would have at least tried to influence his portrayal in the film if he had found a way to do so.

Conversely, I wonder if the making of the film could have helped undo C50, if people not named Brian Wilson were going to find their soon-to-be filmed portrayal(s) as a dealbreaker.

[18thofMay]

Not in my opinion.

[nakostopoulos]

I'm somewhat qualified to answer. I started researching and outlining my own screenplay of the BW/Landy story in October of 2012--about two weeks later, the casting notices for Dano and Cusack were out. When a friend sent me the script for Love & Mercy, the shooting draft was dated June of 2012. It's likely Mike knew the movie was coming, and very probable he knew what tack the film would take with regards to his role during the "Pet Sounds"/"SMiLE" period; so, I suppose the question COULD be reversed-did the shooting draft have an affect on C50? Possibly fun speculation, but who really knows?

Incidentally, have it on good authority from an acquaintance heavily involved in the production (don't feel like giving more away) that among the letters from BW/BB associates, Mike Love's major complaint was that the film be specifically advertised as a Brian Wilson film, and not a "Beach Boys film".

When I laughed at this, my friend just said they were mainly from Mike's lawyers, so it wasn't too bad.

[the professor]

Sorry, your prose is ambiguous, please clarify. Did Mike "request" that the film be marketed as a BW film? or as a BB film?  Or did he "complain" that the film "was being" marketed as a "BW" film.  I am not being pedantic; your sentence made no grammatical sense. thanks.

I'm somewhat qualified to answer. I started researching and outlining my own screenplay of the BW/Landy story in October of 2012--about two weeks later, the casting notices for Dano and Cusack were out. When a friend sent me the script for Love & Mercy, the shooting draft was dated June of 2012. It's likely Mike knew the movie was coming, and very probable he knew what tack the film would take with regards to his role during the "Pet Sounds"/"SMiLE" period; so, I suppose the question COULD be reversed-did the shooting draft have an affect on C50? Possibly fun speculation, but who really knows?

Incidentally, have it on good authority from an acquaintance heavily involved in the production (don't feel like giving more away) that among the letters from BW/BB associates, Mike Love's major complaint was that the film be specifically advertised as a Brian Wilson film, and not a "Beach Boys film".

When I laughed at this, my friend just said they were mainly from Mike's lawyers, so it wasn't too bad.

[pixletwin]

Made sense to me.

[Jim Murphy]

I'm with you, Professor.  I had the exact same question when I read that.

[CenturyDeprived]

Will be interesting to see if Mike specifically addresses his portrayal in Love & Mercy in his autobio. I think the film did make an effort to not just blindly make Mike seem completely one-sided, and it did throw a few bones of empathy his way, despite still showing him to be somewhat of a thorn in Brian's side during the time period which the film covered.

I, for one, cannot not see Love & Mercy having been released in the theaters in its current form unless a level of estrangement between Mike and Brian was part of the real-life equation, as it in fact appears to sadly be. I cannot see them working together in a reunited band with the film coming out as it did in its current form, since Mike would probably have thrown a fit, or tried to throw his political weight around in order to force the film to be more fair in his eyes.

[nakostopoulos]

I meant that Mike (via his lawyers) stressed that the film be explicitly classified as a biopic of Brian Wilson, so that print materials--and presumably, subsequent reviews--would not mistake the film for a biopic of the Beach Boys.

[CenturyDeprived]

I meant that Mike (via his lawyers) stressed that the film be explicitly classified as a biopic of Brian Wilson, so that print materials--and presumably, subsequent reviews--would not mistake the film for a biopic of the Beach Boys.

Because, of course, the ultimate final-word biopic of The Beach Boys was already made 15 years ago for TV, and it would not be desirable to try to rewrite the facts of that film, nor would it be smart to cause confusion in the marketplace with a second biopic of the band proper   Truth be told, L&M is Brian's story, not an attempt at a full-scope BBs' story, which is why it works so well.

[SMiLE Brian]

American family is Mike's story.

[CenturyDeprived]

American family is Mike's story.

Essentially, yes. When Uncle Jesse is in the producer's seat, that's what you get. Well, maybe Mike could get a Mike-centric theatrical biopic made, called "Whennn". It could happen... right?

[SMiLE Brian]

Please make "wheenn" happen!

[nakostopoulos]

American family is Mike's story.

Essentially, yes. When Uncle Jesse is in the producer's seat, that's what you get. Well, maybe Mike could get a Mike-centric theatrical biopic made, called "Whennn". It could happen... right?

The biggest obstacle I think (beyond it being about Mike Love): who the heck would believe a film where the protagonist never takes off his hat for two hours?

 

[CenturyDeprived]

Please make "wheenn" happen!

With smaller BB films like Bigger Than The Beatles (apparently?) happening, one almost could believe that a smaller indie filmmaker, passionate and determined about his subject, could maybe get "Whennn" off the ground. I'd go see it.

[SMiLE Brian]

Soundtrack by Ontor!

[Cyncie]

L&M Lawyer: Well, we've got another letter from Mike Love's legal team.

PR Guy: What now?

L&M Lawyer: They want to make sure that all publicity about the film states that it's a Brian Wilson biopic.

PR Guy: But, it IS a Brian Wilson biopic. Why would we say otherwise?

L&M Lawyer: Dunno. Just make sure the releases are clear that it's not about The Beach Boys.

PR Guy: It's not! Geez! I can't wait to get on to my next project.

L&M Lawyer: What's that?

PR Guy: Shark Week.

L&M Lawyer: Same thing.

[ontor pertawst]

Working his full hat range and a brief hairpiece experiment in a film could be hypnotically fascinating.

[The LEGENDARY OSD]

Luhv's got more lawyers than leads. The ever so litigious myKe luHv.   

[CenturyDeprived]

Will be interesting to see if Mike specifically addresses his portrayal in Love & Mercy in his autobio. I think the film did make an effort to not just blindly make Mike seem completely one-sided, and it did throw a few bones of empathy his way, despite still showing him to be somewhat of a thorn in Brian's side during the time period which the film covered.

I, for one, cannot not see Love & Mercy having been released in the theaters in its current form unless a level of estrangement between Mike and Brian was part of the real-life equation, as it in fact appears to sadly be. I cannot see them working together in a reunited band with the film coming out as it did in its current form, since Mike would probably have thrown a fit, or tried to throw his political weight around in order to force the film to be more fair in his eyes.

In all honesty, and all jokes aside, I do wonder what that fairness level would actually be, as determined by Mike. Yes, the horrid TV films with his (or were they his?) viewpoints came out years ago... but if Brian and Melinda were going to spearhead the making of a biopic about Brian Wilson, and it was going to focus only on the few select time periods in his life that L&M actually did (in order to have an actual narrative flow, and to work as a film)... presuming as I am that Mike may be irked by the final product... what would Mike have wanted the actual film to portray?

I guess some scenes of Mike adding relatable lyrics to Good Vibrations, and showing how that was an important part of the process, and perhaps a few less of the scenes of creative friction between Mike and Brian. I wonder if Mike was able to have any leverage, if he'd have let *any* creative friction type material make it into the final product, or if such scenes would only had to have been framed within the context of ridding the BB world of leaches and druggies. And maybe a scene of how extremely pissed at Landy Mike was during the 80s.

I suppose one could say that we have our answer to what Mike's preferred filmed vision would be with the previous TV films, but it's interesting to ponder if C50 had not imploded, if there would/could have been a compromise reached, and for L&M to still be a rad film (focusing on the minimal amount of eras that this film did) while still satisfying Mike's desire for a BW biopic film that Mike would legitimately feel is fair to him. Perhaps this is as much an impossibility as the alone in the room scenario, but it would be interesting to see Mike's hypothetical "notes" for changes for the film.

[nakostopoulos]

Will be interesting to see if Mike specifically addresses his portrayal in Love & Mercy in his autobio. I think the film did make an effort to not just blindly make Mike seem completely one-sided, and it did throw a few bones of empathy his way, despite still showing him to be somewhat of a thorn in Brian's side during the time period which the film covered.

I, for one, cannot not see Love & Mercy having been released in the theaters in its current form unless a level of estrangement between Mike and Brian was part of the real-life equation, as it in fact appears to sadly be. I cannot see them working together in a reunited band with the film coming out as it did in its current form, since Mike would probably have thrown a fit, or tried to throw his political weight around in order to force the film to be more fair in his eyes.

In all honesty, and all jokes aside, I do wonder what that fairness level would actually be, as determined by Mike. Yes, the horrid TV films with his (or were they his?) viewpoints came out years ago... but if Brian and Melinda were going to spearhead the making of a biopic about Brian Wilson, and it was going to focus only on the few select time periods in his life that L&M actually did (in order to have an actual narrative flow, and to work as a film)... presuming as I am that Mike may be irked by the final product... what would Mike have wanted the actual film to portray?

I guess some scenes of Mike adding relatable lyrics to Good Vibrations, and showing how that was an important part of the process, and perhaps a few less of the scenes of creative friction between Mike and Brian. I wonder if Mike was able to have any leverage, if he'd have let *any* creative friction type material make it into the final product, or if such scenes would only had to have been framed within the context of ridding the BB world of leaches and druggies. And maybe a scene of how extremely pissed at Landy Mike was during the 80s. I suppose one could say that we have our answer to what Mike's preferred filmed vision would be with the previous TV films, but it's interesting to ponder if C50 had not imploded, if there could have been a compromise reached for L&M to still be a rad film (focusing on the minimal amount of eras that this film did) and still satisfy Mike's desire for a BW biopic film that Mike would legitimately feel is fair to him.

I wonder how much more "fair" to Mike the film could have been... As it is, the character Mike Love is sympathetic insofar as we can understand that he takes pride in the band's work and longs for their previous standard of success; he's not the belittling jerk of some lore ("Who's gonna hear this sh*t...?"); he's a pop star who wants to stay that way. As defined by the film who can blame him?

Now, as for how much friction SHOULD have been shown, that's debatable. As a rather firm Brianista, I do think the pushback was intrinsic to the output; what else is IJWMFTT if not a lament for feeling sad and out of place? Now I'm not hardcore into the bios, but it doesn't seem a stretch that these feelings of alienation that Mike and Brian struggled with, found their way into the music.

And I'd find it hard to believe that Brian's subsequent descent into further substance abuse and general depression wasn't at least in small part a reaction to the lack of moral support by part of the band for "SMiLE". Yes, Mike may have sung all the parts, but that doesn't mean he liked it.

Ultimately, if this friction played a decisive part in BW's life then any honest film has no choice but to be fair, and demonstrate why Mike took his stance (which L&M does) and how that position felt to Brian (which it also does).

The problem for Mike Love, is that he's officially on record as being on the wrong side of the tide of history when it comes to "PS" and increasingly, "SMiLE". I get that it burns him that Brian is now enshrined as the greatest American post-war composer since Gershwin and the most important facet of the BBs--it would probably piss me off too; but if he tries to  fight the historical record as not being "fair" then he's just digging a hole for himself. A little acceptance goes a long way; maybe people like me would stop giving him grief if he just admitted he couldn't see what Brian was doing at the time.

[urbanite]

I think Mike Love comes off okay.  No matter what, you won't be able to satisfy everybody.  There's probably some parts of the film that BW is not entirely crazy about, but overall Hollywood has done a good job.  I can't see any film producer having interest in a Beach Boys movie for a very long time after this.

I hope Mike Love exercises some self restraint with his autobiography, but his track record indicates he'll try and settle some scores. 

[Andrew G. Doe]

I hope Mike Love exercises some self restraint with his autobiography, but his track record indicates he'll try and settle some scores.  

Granted he had next to nothing to do with it, but Brian's 1991 pseudobiography was hardly restrained. Hence the lawsuits from friends and family.  Autobiographies tend to be that way.

[RangeRoverA1]

I don't see any connection between C50 & this new film (& vice versa). This thread makes no sense.

[Magic Transistor Radio]

American family is Mike's story.

I thought Mike looked worse in American Family than in Love and Mercy.

[Cam Mott]

American family is Mike's story.

I thought Mike looked worse in American Family than in Love and Mercy.

It was not flattering of Mike.  I don't see were Mike had any more influence on it than Brian or Stamos.