Quartile rating: 7.5/10 · 1 rating
In the late 1960s, the Beach Boys' Brian Wilson stops touring, produces "Pet Sounds" and begins to lose his grip on reality. By the 1980s, under the sway of a controlling therapist, he finds a savior in Melinda Ledbetter.
Love & Mercy earns high marks for its dual-timeline structure and the genuinely singular way it portrays Brian Wilson's fractured psyche — the recording studio sequences recreating Pet Sounds are immersive and feel unlike any other music biopic. Paul Dano and John Cusack both deliver committed, layered performances, with Dano in particular offering one of the more internalized portrayals of creative genius and mental illness in recent memory. Elizabeth Banks is also quietly excellent. The non-linear structure and focus on psychological captivity rather than conventional rise-and-fall narrative give the film a distinctive voice (high Novelty). Cinematography is competent and purposeful but not especially striking outside the studio scenes. The plot, while well-constructed, occasionally struggles with the 1980s strand feeling slightly thinner dramatically. The ending is emotionally satisfying but somewhat conventional in its resolution — the rescue arc ties up a bit too neatly for a story this complex.