Wouldn’t it be nice if Beach Boy Brian Wilson’s troubled life were as easily understood as Love & Mercy makes it appear? Where the Pet Sounds auteur is known for multi-part harmonies, director Bill Pohlad’s biopic is a series of simple duets.
Scripter Oren Moverman, who shares credit with Michael Alan Lerner but is reportedly the principal writer, summoned seven Dylans for I’m Not There. Here he presents just two Brians: one from 1963-67, and another from roughly two decades later. The first is artistically agile, but beginning to lose his psychological balance; the second is essentially imprisoned, and ready to break free.
Crucially, the movie also juggles two acting styles. Paul Dano takes a cinematic approach to the younger Brian, even packing on some baby-genius fat to more closely resemble the Beach Boy who preferred junk food and cigarettes to surfing (or touring with the band). John Cusack’s version of the older man is more distanced and theatrical, without attempts at either physical or psychological impersonation. The performance is amiable but not very convincing, and doesn’t mesh with the literal-minded rest of the movie.
The two chapters are interwoven, with equal emphasis on both. That makes some sense, since the making of Pet Sounds is virtually guaranteed to elicit smiley smiles, even from fans who know the history well enough to see how it’s been condensed and elided.