Bill Pohlad's bio-pic of musician/songwriter Brian Wilson - of Beach Boys fame - is an insightful look at both a significant moment of Wilson's life & Wilson himself, showcased from two different era's of the mans life - that being him in the 60s & him in the 80s. What must be understood before going into Love & Mercy is that it isn't a biography in the most traditional of senses. Whatever expectations you have from hearing the sentence "a biographical film about musician and songwriter Brian Wilson" ignore because that's not really what Pohlad's film is traditionally trying to achieve. Love & Mercy isn't an encompassing biography of Brian Wilson's life because it doesn't focus all that much on different moments of Wilson's life nor is it a biography about the growth of the Beach Boys as a band because the film has very little to do with the Beach Boys. Pohlad, instead, decides to focus & build on one significant, pivotal, moment of Wilson's life to tell his tale, that being his questionable mental state. This is where the whole idea of telling the story from two different era's comes into play, again not so traditional. Pohlad uses this method in a way that isn't so expected. Instead of using the era's as a way of linear storytelling Pohlad instead elects to use them more in parallel format, where instead of telling one era then the next - or using flashbacks as a way to explain a present time - Pohlad has two different stories of Wilson's life told in a way that builds off each other as they progress. The first story is focused on "past" Brian Wilson (played by Paul Dano) as he is beginning to fall into his mental illness as he is making what he believes to be "the greatest album ever made" - Pet Sounds - and the second story is focused on "present" Brian Wilson (played by John Cusack) as he has subcome to his mental illness and is under the mistreatment of Dr. Eugene Landy (played by Paul Giamatti). This type of storytelling not only makes for one enriching, sympathetic, experience of this harsh part of Wilson's life but it also showcases two sharply different images of the man. When we are with Paul Dano we see Brian Wilson in the midst of his genius at work, as we also see his slow decent into his illness. When we are with John Cusack we see Brian Wilson in the midst of his illness and see just how weak and helpless he is. And I have to say seeing this two sharply different performances build off each other is rather phenomenal. Pohlad's choice of focusing on one pivotal moment of Brian Wilson's life works extremely well. Love & Mercy is not only a sympathetic look at a rather harsh time of Wilson's life it is also an insightful look at Brian Wilson in general, one of music's greats. (9/10)

@Sean Wolahan 2014, yep I know...