Love & Mercy

Review by Pamela Zoslov

Bill Pohland's LOVE & MERCY, based on the life of Brian Wilson, transcends the conventions of the rock-music biopic in the same way the Beach Boys' sweet, yearning harmonies transcended the blandness and the brutality of their Southern California youth. The film is in two-part harmony: Brian the elder, a traumatized man in his 40s being dominated by self-styled psychologist Eugene Landy, and Brian the Younger, the chubby, tousled musical genius working his magic at the keyboard and in the studio, battling his inner demons and his bandmates. It's an extraordinary piece, expressing the complexities of Wilson's story and incorporating his music in unexpected and beautiful ways.