Who wants another biopic? All these movies about famous musicians’ lives can be very disappointing and extremely redundant, but Hollywood loves them and they as unavoidable as taxes and death. This time it is Brian Wilson’s turn, played by the brilliant Paul Dano. I like this guy so this upcoming movie can’t be a total mess right? ‘Love & Mercy’, directed by Bill Pohlad (‘The Tree of Life’) from a script by Oren Moverman and Michael Alan Lerner, will be released on June 5th in a theater near you. The movie, which narrates the career of the Beach Boys and their rise to the top of the world of rock & roll, has a new trailer.
Beside Dano, you will also recognize John Cusak, and to my big surprise, he plays Wilson later on in his life…. And this is when I begin to turn skeptical, as much as Dano seems credible as the famous Beach Boy — he looks like a young Wilson — I wonder about Cusak? He is a great actor but I have a hard time to see him as big guy Wilson? Plus, in these ‘Boyhood’ times when people are aging in front of the camera, it is weird to see movies switching actors in the middle of the story… I can’t really convince myself it is the same character, especially when the actors are so different physically.
I should not judge the movie before its release… However, based on Wilson’s own story, I suppose that there’s gonna be the drug struggle episode, the descent into hell and the redemption by love as it is always the case for each biopic I have seen? As we all know Wilson went through a lot…but he is still alive so it will be a happy Hollywood ending. See? I have already seen the movie but I could be wrong. Elizabeth Banks stars as Wilson’s second wife, Melinda, and Paul Giamatti is his longtime therapist, Dr. Eugene Landy. Watch the trailer below.