At the weekend I eventually made it to see this biographical film about Brian Wilson. I can't claim to have "enjoyed" the film as the subject matter of Wilson's spiral into mental illness was too unsettling and at times even harrowing. Nevertheless the film was very well done and according to Wilson himself, was very accurate. Assuming he can recall the events portrayed, then I guess he should know.
The part of Wilson is played by two actors. The younger self by Paul Dano who with chubby charm and a floppy mop of hair pulls off a very convincing performance. Less convincing I fear is John Cusack who portrays the 1990's Wilson with ticks, twitches and quizzical looks but just doesn't look the part at all. Perhaps it's a shame that Melinda Wilson (Brian's wife) didn't get her choice of Jeff Bridges to play the part. Personally I think he would have carried it off far better than Cusack.
For me, the most enjoyable parts of the movie were the scenes set in the studio where we saw the array of fine session musicians including Hal Blaine and Carol Kaye, struggling to recreate the sounds that Wilson could obviously hear clearly in his mind. From what I have previously read about those sessions, the film recreated the scenes perfectly.
I guess that the subject matter of the film meant that there was going to be little beauty on display but what there was came in the form of Elizabeth Banks who played Melinda Ledbetter (a beautiful person inside and out) and of course the stunning music that would make up the albums 'Pet Sounds' and eventually, 'Smile'. The soundtrack which is due for release later this year should be worth hearing. Or of course I could just listen to the aforementioned albums.
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