There are women in the film, but none has anything you could call a personality.

Blending excellent reporting and strong storytelling, this is a disturbing film truly stranger than fiction

I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

The story centers on Brian Wilson (John Cusack/ Paul Dano) and his mental psychosis in two subplots; one in the 1980's and another in the 1960's after the group is famous. Brian had mental problems which seemed to be set around his relationship with his father (Bill Camp) and made worse by drug use. He can't travel and stays at home writing the definitive American album. After the Beatles left the stage and changed rock and roll by going to complex pieces involving studio musicians, Brian wanted to follow. His work while critically acclaimed, never sold as well as his beach music. In the 1980's he meets car saleswoman Melinda Ledbetter (Elizabeth banks) who recognizes that Gene Landy (Paul Giamatti), Brian's legal guardian, may not have Brian's best care at heart.If you are looking for a Beach Boys story, this isn't it. There are odd scenes which are used to imitate Brian's confused brain. In one scene I thought I was watching the monolith hotel room scene (2001....)Guide: implied sex and nudity. Elizabeth Banks mouths the F-bomb near the end...If my lip reading is correct.

Knowing little about the Beach Boys music except their well known hits, I did hear about this "doctor" who had the lead singer in an isolating grip. Many years Brian Wilson, the lead singer of the popular sixties Beach Boys band, had gone off the rails. Losing it mentally, he was addicted to medicine and was isolated by his "doctor" from the outside world. It really is a heartbreaking story. And this movie "Love and Mercy" has really made an awesome tribute to the music Brian Wilson made and to the wonderful person he was."Love and Mercy" tells 2 stories at the same time. One story about the young Brian Wilson who rose to fame as a musician, and one story about the older, addicted and isolated Brian Wilson, who has gone off the rails. The combination of the 2 stories really mix very fluently. The whole movie is edited in a way a good beach boys song would sound: in total harmony. John Cusack, Paul Dano and Elizabeth Banks all act at the top of their talents.Paul Dano actually seems to sing the songs for real and his resemblance to Brian Wilson is stunning. In the end I am really impressed and in awe of this movie. What a wonderful tribute. Goosebumps all over, because the end is so emotionally uplifting. Special praise for the way the music was remixed, it sounded from another planet so spacious, intense and beautiful. Wow. I would like to add a lot of more comments but in the end it is better to just let yourself get submersed in the music. Dont forget to watch the end credits in which the real Brian Wilson makes an appearance with the song Love and Mercy. "That is all what you and your friends need tonight..." as sung by the wonderfully talented Brian Wilson.

Yay! The sound of the beach - Round, Round get around - I get around - this movie has all the good vibrations of the 60's till it swirls into Brian Wilson's personal hell............and eventual rescue and recovery.Its a biopic and the timeline is incredibly simplified and compressed compared to what Brian actually went through. The real Brian Wilson plays a cameo role singing the movie theme song in an on screen sidebar during the closing credits - the text of which are probably the most unread credits in any recent movie.Featuring a fascinating recreation of the session musicians "The Wrecking Crew" who actually created the sounds of most of the bands of the 60's and early 70's and how they worked.Not a happy go lucky "surf's up" movie but an interesting exploration of one aspect of the times.

The backwards/forwards style and pacing of this movie may put some viewers off but those who stay with it should be enthralled. To date, this is possibly one of the most accessible screen example of telling a story in dual time frames using two different performers. The life of popular musical genius Brian Wilson is quite harrowing - from a manipulative, abusive father to an opportunistic and equally abusive quack "Dr" Eugene Landy. Landy stood to gain a large (and unworthy) share of Brian's legacy - and if not for the eventual intervention of various close family and friends would have succeeded in his attempts to drug Wilson to oblivion.The studio session scenes are highly revealing for the way they demonstrate the parallels of genius and mental instability. They also highlight the respect session musicians held for the time they spent working with Wilson. It seems this venue is possibly where Glen Campbell was introduced to Wilson - before being selected to stand in for Brian during a major tour. Performances, direction, photography and music combine to convincingly tell this talented artists troubled journey up to the present. The use of live, present day, concert footage during the end credits round off a compelling movie experience. While it might mean more to Beach Boys/Wilson followers or those who lived through the early years, it offers equal benefits to any follower of modern musical development.