Love and Mercy (film)

Love amp Mercy is a 2014 American biographical drama film directed by Bill Pohlad that focuses on musiciansongwriter Brian Wilson, cofounder of the Beach Boys. The film, deriving its title from the 1988 song by Wilson, is presented in a parallel narrative covering two specific time periods in Wilsons life the 1960s and the 1980s. Paul Dano and John Cusack depict the young and middleaged Wilson, respectively, with Elizabeth Banks as Wilsons second wife Melinda Ledbetter, and Paul Giamatti as Wilsons psychotherapist Dr. Eugene Landy. Love amp Mercy was distributed in the United States by Roadside Attractions, beginning June 5, 2015. The soundtrack, Music from Love amp Mercy, was released on August 14, 2015.

In the 1960s, young songwriter and recording savant Brian Wilson Paul Dano finds himself in the midst of extraordinary success after scoring numerous hit records with The Beach Boys. Following a panic attack, he resigns from concert touring and ventures into the studio intent on creating the greatest album ever made, Pet Sounds. Meanwhile, his grip on reality slowly loosens as he attempts to cope with the overwhelming voices in his head. Later, in the 1980s, a middleaged Wilson John Cusack is shown to be a broken, confused man under the pharmacological and legal thrall of his abusive therapist Dr. Eugene Landy Paul Giamatti. After meeting Wilson, Cadillac saleswoman Melinda Ledbetter Elizabeth Banks is determined to save him from Landys manipulation.A theatrical film adaptation of Wilsons life, titled Love amp Mercy, was first proposed in 1988, and was planned to star William Hurt as Wilson and Richard Dreyfuss as Landy. It derived its title from Wilsons latest single, Love and Mercy 1988, which appears as the opening track to his debut solo album Brian Wilson. While the project stagnated in development hell, the Beach Boys were eventually featured as the subject of two madeforTV dramatizations Summer Dreams The Story of The Beach Boys 1990 and The Beach Boys An American Family 2000. Both films were widely derided for their historical inaccuracies. nb Rolling Stone reported in 1999 that Melinda hoped to organize a Wilson biopic which starred Jeff Bridges. In 2006, the Wilson biopic project was briefly revived, and was to have included involvement from producers Mark Gordon, Lawrence Inglee, Jordan Wynn, and David Leaf. Nothing further was reported. ........

Source: Wikipedia