https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GLnLUWwc7II get goosebumps watching this scene. For starters, it is a brilliant overview of Brian Wilson working on a song from start to finish. And the accuracy of the musical process - we hear the beginning attempts at finding this new sound...warts and all. In the beginning the instrumentals sound sparse, the flutes sound off in places. But over the course of the scene the song gets more and more intense and pieced together.
The vocals-only moments are mind-blowing. I'll never forget the first time I saw this in the theaters and I heard Carl's part, then the harmony "Gotta keep those a lovin good vibrations happenin" - it floored me that I'd never heard those before, and the first time I'm hearing it is in this beautiful recreation that I'm watching in a feature film in a theater. We are so blessed as fans.
As a commenter on YouTube said: "The guy who plays Mike Love looks more like Mike Love than Mike Love does." and it's so true! Each actor seems to perfectly embody the person they're portraying.
The cinematography during the first cello scene is so cool - the 360 pan around the studio. Dennis goofing off but also a possible foreshadow of his venture into piano/music. The shot of Carl is a perfect recreation of his Smile era studio shots. Paul Dano is so convincing when directing the cello players - you completely forget that he
isn't Brian Wilson in that moment (and this happens so often in the movie).
This scene/movie is the closest we'll come to going back in time to be a fly-on-the-wall during one of Brian's sessions. Anywho, I'm done gushing.
Fun (kinda sad?) fact (that I don't think has been mentioned here): Paul Dano's Riddler character in the new Batman movie was somewhat inspired by his Brian Wilson character in Love & Mercy. Matt Reeves (director of Batman) : “That character, he’s caught up in his artistry and he struggles to communicate with those around him,” Reeves said of Dano as Wilson. “That was spiritually connected to the idea of this isolation that the Riddler felt. The Riddler is a product of our time, the way that people become isolated online and retreat to mental activities that substitute for not having contact.”
I saw The Batman in IMAX and Dano's parts were unbelievably disturbing - but it goes to show how talented Dano is, to pull off such a role.