Love and Mercy is the story of Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys over the course of a lifetime. If you know anything about the Beach Boys then you know that Brian Wilson, the co-founder of the group, was not always a well man, but he is regarded as a genius among songwriters and performers. Some say he’s a tortured artist, or was back in the day, others would say he just went down a bad path, but many would likely agree that his music was something that took a great deal from him even as it sustained him for a while. Real genius might not seem to have limits but the human body in which it’s housed does and the genius gene seems to burn people out far too quickly at times.
As of now he’s been doing good for a long while, but back in the day things got bad.
10. Upon watching the film the real Brian Wilson had a moment when he believed that Paul Giamatti was the real Eugene Landy.
He actually got a little scared watching the film at that point since it was seemingly as real as it got.
9. At the premiere Wilson stated that his favorite scene in the movie was the passionate moment between John Cusack and Elizabeth Banks.
He liked the representation of the good times that he had with his wife back in those days.
8. Paul Dano took Wilson’s words nearly verbatim in some scenes.
For instance when he asked if they could get a horse into the recording studio those were Brian’s words exactly.
7. There were a couple of different biopics that were planned decades earlier.
In the 80’s and then the 90’s Eugene Landy attempted to make a movie based on Wilson.
6. There was almost an issue with using Cusack as the older Wilson.
Putting him in the film was questionable when it came to his looks, but it was explained by the director that this was because Cusack bore a strong resemblance to Wilson at a certain point in his life.
5. Dano and Cusack did not interact at any point during the filming.
This was done on purpose so that they could come up with their own interpretation of what Wilson was like during those different periods in his life.
4. The real Wilson had very little impact on the film.
He didn’t get a whole lot of creative input on the film but what he did manage to do influenced it just enough that the director took it into account.
3. Paul Dano gained 35 pounds for this role.
Apparently he injured himself during a basketball game due to the added stress that the additional weight put on his joints.
2. The film tried not to take that many creative liberties.
They wanted it to be as real as possible and not diverge from the main story so as to give a good accounting of Wilson’s life.
1. The film covers a span of time between 1964 to 1987.
They did their best to pick out points in Wilson’s life that were the most important and had as much to do with his music and his decline as possible.
Genius never goes away, but it burns brightly and quickly.
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