Love And Mercy

This review may contain spoilers!

While not the most incredible biopic I've ever seen, Love and Mercy is still an incredible feature. I would give Love and Mercy a 6/10.

This film excelled in dealing with Brian Wilson's psychology (both in the present and in the past); it really studied him as a character to a very thorough depth. The editing for this film was amazing, the sudden cutting or the way sounds were distorted to go hand in hand with the mentality of Brian Wilson was amazing. Beyond that the music for this film was brilliant, not a wild surprise as this was the biopic of a musical genius.

Paul Dano, who played Brian Past, presented one of his best performances to date; his constant falling into mood swings or bouts of psychosis are some of the most pivotal moments of the film.

However the best performance came from Paul Giamatti, who played Dr. Eugene Landy. Giamatti is an incredible actor who has embodied a wide variety of roles in his lifetime and was recently my favourite performance in San Andreas too. But this is probably one of his best in my honest opinion. He has this incredible precision in the film; often acting calm while honeying his words. But what really sets him apart are the incredible outbursts and fits of rage he has. This is a stand out performance and probably the best thing to watch within the film.

The narrative's pacing was definitely dragged out; not to mention that the cutting between present and past grew tiresome as the film moved onwards. Particularly because the present storyline was helmed by two characters who displayed very little chemistry. The cinematography for this film didn't have the same creativity that the editing displayed; in fact the shots for this feature were very basic to look at.

Elizabeth Banks, who played Melinda Ledbetter, had some very bad chemistry with Cusack in this film; their lack of chemistry and the fact that banks shouldn't have been footnoted as some romantic interest is a big reason why her performance really wasn't up to par in this film. John Cusack, who played Brian Future, was a terrible leading role; his over-exaggerated performance and gimmicky acting proved he didn't have the capacity to perform such an intense role. Jake Abel, who played Mike Love, had very little presence in this film; he just appeared from time to time in the past plot without much impact. Erin Darke, who played Marilyn Wilson, probably should have had more of a role than she did; ultimately she was just placed back into the plot where she absolutely was required. Bill Camp, who played Murry Wilson, was just a boisterous constant drone when he was in a scene; he had very little impact upon the film as a whole.