The Smiley Smile Message Board

I'd like to hear what you guys think of the two Beach Boys movies made. I seen the one from 2000 but its been years ago & cant really remember it all too well & I've never seen the one from 1990. Im trying to find both these movies, and am having a really hard time. Should have figured that one, lol.

Anyway, my question to you guys is- If you've seen one or both, how accurate did you feel it was to the story of the Beach Boys? Did you like the movie as a whole?

I think they're both pretty terrible to be honest.  Summer Dreams is the better of the two.  Maybe 'better' isn't the word for it...  I think it's the less offensive of the two at least.  This one is on dvd so it shouldn't be too hard to find.

Fake beards!!

Well in my opinion An American Family is the better one but I suppose you could say I have a soft spot for it since it was what got me into the band to begin with. As AvanTodd rightly says both are pretty terrible but in my opinion An American Family has better acting, looks better (in terms of no obviously fake beards, plus the cast looks better etc.) and they use the actual recordings as opposed to getting the actors to sing the songs themselves (like in Summer Dreams)... I know it's all opinion but I've never understood why people prefer Summer Dreams? I suppose if you want a good laugh then watch that because honestly it makes me laugh at how bad it is :P

Hey, what's wrong with those? I'm wearing a fake beard as I type this!

The fact that they have the actors sing is one of the reasons I like Summer Dreams better. There are some really lame scenes in American Family with the actors lipsynching to songs, like the Brian character singing Carl's lead vocal in "Let the Wind Blow".

I like An American Family, it's funny. Brian sounds like a stereotypical stoner the entire movie.

I can see where you are coming from but to a non-fan watching the movie (like I was when I was watching it) I don't think they care who actually sang the song. Those movies are never going to be 100% accurate with little details like that anyway - and I mean how often do we argue over who sang what and people still aren't sure (eg: The Letter - some say Brian but I've heard others say Carl, same as the early version of Good Vibes etc.) Anyway, I'd much rather have the actual recordings which is why the main thing that annoys me about An American Family is the fake SMiLE music. In the end they are both pretty crap movies but I think the thing that annoys me about Summer Dreams the most is the script (I know both are pretty bad but Summer Dreams is much worse in my opinion)

I am quite fond of Summer Dreams, in odd ways, for sure. The fake beards are superb. One moment you see clean-cut highschool kids, the next moment you see the same kids but now seemingly just having come back from the Planet Of The Apes (pace Brett Wheadon...). The actor playing Murry is the spitting image of the man himself. The 'fake control booth' scene is also in there, if I am right.

ENDLESS HARMONY?  You mean AMERICAN FAMILY?

For Brittany's benefit (hi Brittany!), I feel it's important to note that Brian and Melinda were quite pissed off with Part II of AN AMERICAN FAMILY as was Van Dyke Parks who threatened to sue unless they removed his name. The Wilsons were able to get a disclaimer added to the beginning of Part II calling the effort heavily fictionalized. Now, Brian actually contributed some new vocal work to Part I which he reportedly liked and thought was relatively accurate (the producers, who included John Stamos, didn't allow the family to see Part II until just before broadcasting), but Part II was very inaccurate and sensationalized. Brian is portrayed as a complete imbecile who needs Mike to help him save "Good Vibrations" and make it a hit; Van Dyke is portrayed as a talentless hipster who provides Brian with nothing but drugs. It's ugly stuff.

SUMMER DREAMS, on the other hand, is low budget and has trouble with some of the facts as well, but is more accurate in its portrayal of Brian and Dennis.

Um, both. But I meant American Family, yes.

I have seen both.  I like BB An American family better myself.  They did a better job casting the characters, because the actors who played Mike, Audree, Murry, young Brian , manson and especially Nick Stabile who played Dennis, they all had striking resemblence to their characters.  If I am not mistaken, Jennifer Wilson was also on that movie, playing a dancer.  It was not IMHO as true to the story as Summer Dreams; the Van Dyke Parks character in SD was blonde, and names were changed for a couple of characters, but overall it was my favorite.

Summer Dreams, it's more true to form, but the characters didn't look like realistic.  Bruce Greenwood does sing a beautiful song in the movie, and actually his mannerisms, the way he carried himself etc, was very Dennis-like. But argh!  The FAKE BEARDS in that movie, during the BB beard stage, argh..they look like they glued fake fur to their face or glued some kind of animal pelts to their face...

A lot of cring in both movies.  Some scenes were fun to watch but American Family just seemed to get worse as it went.  The Brian character came across as a moron, rather than as sensitive and eccentric.  I imagined Mike and Stamos in the editing room snickering and laughing so hard that milk shot out of their noses.  I had encouraged some coworkers to watch and was embarrassed afterward.

But, if you are a new fan, or a younger generation fan, why not have fun and watch everything you can on the Beachboys?   Be your own critic.  Consider the movies in light of some of the more reliable and accurate books you might read that have been suggested on this board.

Each of the movies has moments and scenes that are entertaining and fun viewing.

A little off topic, but as for beards and beachboys, did any of you see the Hangover movie?   The Alan Garner character and his beard kept reminding me of Brian Wilson in his overweight/unkept stage.

I thought the exact same thing, and I don't think were too far off, because the Director Todd Phillips is a big Beach Boys fan

Part I of AMERICAN FAMILY was a pretty interesting take on the band's early years, rather well done I thought...which made Part II, which was awful, inaccurate and simplistic, particularly in its treatment of Brian, doubly offensive.  It really made me want to hit someone.

It's been awhile not, but which contains one of my favorites lines of all time....

"You're out of the band, Buckwheat!"

From Roger Ryan - "There was a beautiful scene where Dennis visits Karen and plays a song on the piano for her.  I remember the song and always wondered if it were written for the film, since I've never heard it again."

The song was written for the movie as kind of a faux Dennis Wilson song. I've had a lot of people ask me about "that DW song in Summer Dreams"...but its not a Dennis Wilson song. BTW, Karen Lamm consulted with the actress who played her. More BB's movie trivia...as Ed said we worked a bit with Nick Stabile on his Dennis role in American Family and we spent an afternoon as Stamos' guests on the set, and pretty much upset that apple cart for a few hours. Also, I managed to get my brother-in-law cast in the role as one of the Sunrays. The whole story is here...
http://thejonstebbins.com/family.html

haha me too ;D

What's this mean?  ???

Read the story at the link Jon provided.

Yay I'm excited...

Just found both movies on Netflix! Using my free trial to watch them, lol.  :-D

Let me know which one you "like" better?

Are you sure it's "An American Family"? I couldn't find it. You sure you don't mean "An American Band"?

Yeah...I don't see 'American Family' on Netflix...just 'American Band'. Although the other movie, 'Summer Dreams', is there.

'American Band' is a documentary-type film with some great music clips of the band (and a lot of staged interviews). Definitely worth watching though!

I've never seen any of these Beach Boys movies, feel like I'm missing out.

I did see an American band on true movies once, but couldn't stomach it so I only watched like 30 minutes

hope it was the 30 minutes of good stuff: Pet Sounds - SMile- Time to Get Alone?

Nah 30 minutes of evil Murray  ;D

im watching summer dreams at this very moment. i really like this movie in  a weird sort of way. esp. the cocaine and hamburgers scene. i think in the way the movie gets so many things wrong is sort of charming. and i think the Brian in this one is at least likable. in American Family they make brian seem like some slobbering idiot (esp. pet sounds and later).

Awe darn, I dont know what I was thinking lol. You guys are right, it was An American Band...man...I was so happy thinking I had found both movies >:(

American Family was on youtube at one time you may still find it :)

Its not there anymore:( Only like two 5 minute clips are up, but I'm on a mission to see it & I usually am able to complete my mission!

American Family was pretty lame to be honest.. it was one of those "all the characters call everyone else by their first names all the time so it's more convincing that the audience is watching the beach boys" kind of things.

It's been on VH1 classic a number of times recently.

Really??? Must be different here because I've been checking it constantly and havent seen it:(

Oh and I just watched Summer Dreams. Wow...very, very low budget. I mean, besides not having BB vocals but the guy who played Brian was like 5'10 or something lol. And their hair was wayyyy off as well as the fake beards, I mean you can get them a bit more realistic looking.

The acting was not very good either:( "Murry" was quite spot on though. They also messed up in the plot too. I was quite disapointed in it:( Oh well, they tried.

Someone needs to do a really nice "Walk The Line" type production on The Beach Boys. Its long overdue.

Cool, I'll have to sign up for the free trial so I can watch it, even if it may not be that great :D

watching American Family.... is the version 'Brian' plays of 'In My Room' at the piano actually sung by old Brian? it sounds really like him....

Yes I'm pretty sure that's him

thanks.... i'll wait til my blood pressure calms down before commenting on the rest :P

until he goes to the falsetto "tell my secrets too" i'm pretty sure they overdub that with a younger voice..

That's why i wasn't sure....

Wow. What a trip that was.  It wasn't quite as bad as i expected.... Although the actor who played Brian deserves a slap in the face. Benny Hill would have delivered a more tactful portrayal of a slide into manic depression.

How are the other two? The only other one I've seen is Endless Harmony, which was a very mixed bag

Can you remember what got edited out? I mean, my personal view on it is that it's pretty good (bar the Smile section, which was catastrophic), especially with all the archival footage - all that's incredible. And the amount of stuff they've got in there is great. I disliked the end, which basically glorified the destruction of the beach boys as a credible musical force, which isn't anything new, but still sad. And some of the comments by band members shouldn't have made it in there. Hence, 'very mixed bag'. Sad it seems to have been meddled with, but considering the bands history of ,erm, editing events, it's surprisingly good.


As you may have noticed, I'm not quite sure where i stand on this matter  :)

Waitttt I'm confused...whats Endless Harmony? I thought we were talking about movies made about the BB's?

Endless Harmony's a documentary narrated by them. Kind of an 'Anthology' type thing, worth a watch, too. And, seeing as it's 2 hours long, could be considered a movie... But not a 'biopic' type thing. Sorry for the confusion

Oh its ok, thanks! I'm defintley going to have to check that out.

Now you are confusing the confused...American Band was the 1985 documentary "narrated by them"...Endless Harmony is a 1998 documentary and one in the classic sense.

Lets tidy this subject up.

Endless Summer (1974) Album
American Band (1985) Documentary
Summer Dreams  (1990) TV Movie
Endless Harmony (1998) Documentary and Soundtrack
American Family (2000) TV Movie

...any corrections welcome. ;D

Oops! My brain obviously needs a tune-up. REALLY sorry for the confusion  ;D

and going by what Ed just said I think it is time for -

Endless Harmony - The Director's Cut (2009)  (about 8 hours long)

How about it Alan - nothing a couple of dozen lawyers couldn't sort out! :)

...or Al's next group!

The American Endless Family Summer Harmony Band of Dreams anyone? ;D

LMAO  ;D

I found 'Summer Dreams ' yesterday on-line and checked it out. Pretty much terrible.

Still waiting for that Brian bio, hope the wheels get into motion sometime soon.

Nope, you're definitely not alone! 'Endless Harmony' is what got me 'into' the BB. I saw it on VH1 back in '98 and that was my introduction to the band. Big props to Alan for creating such a wonderful film even though he had to cut out a lot of 'key elements'. I owe my obsession with the Beach Boys to that one film.

I Get Around was also sung by old Brian!

Which was, for me anyways, more than a little disconcerting.

Ditto! Don't get me wrong, I like American Band. It definitely has it's place, especially for those rare clips of the guys (I'd buy a dvd of that stuff alone!!) and the fact that the band narrated it. IMO, though, Endless Harmony is far and away the best thing on the band (movies and docs included). I can't imagine someone hearing the music and seeing that and not walking away at least a casual fan. And the ending montage is absolutely perfect and gets me everytime. The clip of Denny and Carl in the grass and getting up and walking away is so fitting but always tears me up :'( I really believe it's the most complete, honest, and endearing depiction of their story while still keeping it about the music :thumbsup

Endless Harmony also has a fantastic soundtrack...

the final release of Loop De Loop with the original demo: Sail Plane Song
and Soulful OldMan Shunshine

Wow, how uncreative.

From a pure production point of view I'd have to say American Family seems to be the better movie. That said, I did prefer the Murry character in Summer Dreams. The use of actual Beach Boys songs in AF sounded better to these ears. If you sit down and look at all the inaccuracies of the movies I am sure you could form a completely different opinion.

One of my favorites was how Brian came down to the studio fully bearded  in his robe (a la the It's OK Special Belushi/Ackroyd scene - oh no let's not bring another TV special into this) to a session for Add Some Music (where Dennis was eager to get back to the Manson orgie for another round). Mike Love's smugness in the movie also was something that irritated more than a bit.  Also have to love how they constantly take quotes from interviews and add as dialogue (BW - "I'm just a hard working guy"- MW "If you love me Audrey you'll.... ML - "If the world meditated it would  be a whole different...")

There is a large quantity of great previously unreleased material on the EH soundtrack, including one of the best Smile snippets of all IMO, Brian playing an informal, early version
of H & V, I'm in Great Shape and Barnyard on the piano, a priceless glimpse of his passion,
vision for the album and unadulterated, raw inspiration during that fragile era. Wonderbill,
Barbara, 'Til I Die alternate mix, Long Promised Road from Carnegie Hall, All Alone many years before the POB/Bambu Legacy edition, what an embarrassment of riches! 8)

I enjoyed the subtle editing of Endless Harmony on several occasions...  ::)