Love & Mercy

PG-13

Released Jun 5, 2015

2 hr. 0 min.

Biography

Drama

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List

89%

217 Reviews

Tomatometer

85%

10,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

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, Wilson (John Cusack), under the sway of a controlling therapist, finds a savior in Melinda Ledbetter.

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Critics Consensus

As unconventional and unwieldy as the life and legacy it honors, Love & Mercy should prove moving for Brian Wilson fans while still satisfying neophytes.

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Wayne K

The Beach Boys are a band I'm always happy to hear on the radio or wherever they might be playing, but I've never followed them or discovered much about their background. I know names like Brain Wilson & Mike Love, but I don't know a lot about them. Love & Mercy focuses on 2 crucial periods in Brian's life, bouncing back and forth between them. The film allegedly sticks largely to historical fact, with even Wilson himself attesting to this. Rather than just being a trite step by step journey through Wilsons life and career, it dedicates time to his mental struggles and the pressure he faced trying to keep his band above the water while also expanding his creative input, 2 situations that were almost always mutually exclusive. As many have remarked, Paul Dano does a more affecting job playing the younger Wilson than John Cusack does playing the older version, maybe because he's given more to do and his struggle is significantly more compelling. John Cusack is portraying Wilson while he's rueful and often medicated, and there's not a lot of variety in his interactions. The best part of this segment is Paul Giamatti's performance as fraudulent psychologist Eugene Landy, who's so compelling because he's playing the part as a villain who doesn't even realise he's the villain. Bolstered by some of The Beach Boys greatest hits and intimate yet sympathetic direction from Brian Pohlad, Love & Mercy offers a window into the life of one of popular music's mostly widely recognised geniuses at 2 of his lowest points. It doesn't glorify or condemn him, it just shows us what he went through, and for that reason, it more than deserves your attention.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

03/28/24

Full Review

Patrick D

3.75. Maybe the last strong Cusack performance? He seems stuck in the direct to streaming world now. I remember him getting flak when this first came out, but he really isn't too far off from how Wilson was in the mid-80s. Dano and Giamatti are both excellent as always. The movie itself is a bit disjointed with the nonlinear storytelling and I can't say the movie is better off from it. Also, a shoutout to the mid-90s two-part TV movie on The Beach Boys that, along with the same for The Temptations, is actually pretty good.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

03/25/24

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SR C

I had no idea Brian Wilson was such a not mess. "Genius" maybe, but "out there". The storyline was slow so the 2 hour movie felt like 4.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/18/24

Full Review

Timothy D

Love and Mercy is enjoyable enough to ignite interest in its real life characters (and then be impressed at how well they were cast). The past vs present storytelling and sincere acting are engrossing even if the delivery as a whole comes off muted.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

11/20/23

Full Review

Robert R

"Love & Mercy" makes for an effectively novel dramatization of actual events, but I really think this was just on the cusp of being one of the better biopics I've ever seen, if not for a couple conceptual elements that ultimately held it back. The idea for the film — this bifurcated account of Brian Wilson's life — is honestly a great idea (especially if you're a fan of the man's music). Both periods of time are consequential and interconnected, with either portion featuring some truly terrific performances. Problem is, for me, having two different actors playing the central figure in either timeline makes it a little difficult for me to connect the dots. I feel like aging Paul Dano up into the John Cusack timeline could've made the overall trajectory of the narrative much less disjointed. This isn't to say I favored Dano's performance over Cusack's or anything. I just don't think de-aging tech was anywhere near ready enough in 2014 for Cusack to be aged down. Still, I really did enjoy this, with only a couple gripes keeping me from loving it full-blown.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

09/13/23

Full Review

Harry N

Saw it on T.V. and the volume was so low I could barely hear anything. The artistic license of using Dano and Cusack had me confused. I did not realize, at first, they were the same person. They should have had actors of similar appearance. How could such be the same person? There was no "local color" of the era. More outdoor scenes of Hawthorne Blvd., the A&W and South Bay would have added depth. I am a contemporary of them and lived in the area. I understand the ambience. In addition the actors seemed on "pause control" in many scenes. They had little emotive reaction throughout the movie. This could have been a "richer" biography if the writers had done more in depth research of the time and place.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

08/06/23

Full Review

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Bill Pohlad

Director

John Cusack

Older Brian Wilson

Paul Dano

Young Brian Wilson

Elizabeth Banks

Melinda Ledbetter

Paul Giamatti

Dr. Eugene Landy

Jake Abel

Mike Love

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Love & Mercy: Trailer 1

2:30

Love & Mercy: Teaser Trailer 1

1:06

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Max Weiss

Baltimore Magazine

Love & Mercy is one of the most convincing depictions of the creative process and the effects of mental illness I've seen in a long time.

Rated: 3/4

Jun 10, 2016

Full Review

Jason Bailey

Flavorwire

It is (among its many virtues) wonderfully not boilerplate.

May 28, 2016

Full Review

Mark Kermode

Observer (UK)

That so much of it rings true is a credit to the film-makers; that Wilson lived some (if not all) of it is a reminder of his matchless alchemical magic.

Rated: 4/5

Jul 12, 2015

Full Review

Sean Axmaker

Stream on Demand

There's a lot of history packed in here... but director Bill Pohald is just as interested in exploring Wilson's creative process...

Nov 18, 2023

Full Review

Keith Garlington

Keith & the Movies

“Love & Mercy” is a very inward-looking biopic. It is much more interested in showing the inner brilliance of Brian Wilson on a creative level as well as the mental and emotional turmoil that sends his life careening out of control.

Rated: 4/5

Aug 23, 2022

Full Review

Loren King

Newport This Week (RI)

A creepy, terrific performance from Paul Giamatti as the controlling, manipulative Landy.

Dec 6, 2021

Full Review

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Synopsis

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, Wilson (John Cusack), under the sway of a controlling therapist, finds a savior in Melinda Ledbetter.

Director: Bill Pohlad
Executive Producer: Ann Ruark, Jim Lefkowitz, Oren Moverman
Screenwriter: Oren Moverman, Michael A. Lerner
Distributor: Lionsgate Films, Roadside Attractions
Production Co: River Road, Battle Mountain Films
Rating: PG-13 (Language|Drug Content|Thematic Elements)
Genre: Biography, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jun 5, 2015, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Jun 18, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA): $12.5M

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