Members rasputin1963 Posted September 25, 2015 Members Share Posted September 25, 2015 I saw it. And just between us, I thought it was not very good. The "early" scenes of young Brian are kinda interesting, but the "later" scenes are seriously yawn-worthy. There was nothing I could do, in my mind, to convince myself that John Cusack was Brian. The real Brian has always been chubby and blond-ish; Cusack is looking more like the swarthy, clammy Nixon he played in THE BUTLER. The movie is slow and self-conscious. And heavily tailored to be fangless and acceptable to Brian. The real story, I have a hunch, was wilder and crazier and uglier-- now THAT'S the movie I'd like to see. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vito Corleone Posted September 25, 2015 Members Share Posted September 25, 2015 Haven't seen the movie yet, but it certainly was met with lukewarm-at-best reviews. Including those here. Too bad. The Brian Wilson/Beach Boys story is a very good one. Deserves to be told well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted September 25, 2015 Author Share Posted September 25, 2015 As far as Dr Landy is concerned, I'm not really sure what to think. I suppose he was manipulative and tried to take advantage of Brian (if some reports are to be believed) but OTOH Brian was pretty messed up and pretty far gone, and he seems to have been a big part of what helped him to come back to being a functional and even creative human again, so I don't know if it's fair to say he and his efforts were all bad. As far as Love And Mercy (BTW, I love that song Brian, in the unlikely event you ever read this... ) I still have not seen it. At this point, I think I'll have to wait until it comes out on pay per view or the movie channels on cable. I still want to see it, but I never did see it showing locally. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members nat whilk II Posted September 25, 2015 Members Share Posted September 25, 2015 As far as Dr Landy is concerned, I'm not really sure what to think. I suppose he was manipulative and tried to take advantage of Brian (if some reports are to be believed) but OTOH Brian was pretty messed up and pretty far gone, and he seems to have been a big part of what helped him to come back to being a functional and even creative human again, so I don't know if it's fair to say he and his efforts were all bad. As far as Love And Mercy (BTW, I love that song Brian, in the unlikely event you ever read this... ) I still have not seen it. At this point, I think I'll have to wait until it comes out on pay per view or the movie channels on cable. I still want to see it, but I never did see it showing locally. We grabbed it a Redbox. Aren't those things everywhere? The Wikipedia entry on Brian and Landy (for what it's worth) at least illustrates it was a complicated situation. It was Brian's first wife who insisted Brian see Landy - Landy was a Beverly Hills hip therapist, and had some successes with other rock stars and such. Landy seemed to do a lot of good for about a year, but was dismissed for charging too much. In the early 80s some years later, Brian totally fell apart under the drugs and alcohol, the brothers and family insisted to Brian that he had to go back under Landy's treatment. But Landy clearly had boundary issues - became insinuated in all phases of Brian's life, including his musical career. He certainly got called on the carpet by the California Medical Board in later years - but according to an LA Times article, it was just one instance of dispensing drugs illegally that lost him his license. Drugs seem to me to be the biggest villain here - Brian apparently just the type of person who could neither handle nor resist drugs, whose mental status was shaky to begin with. And then the anti-psychotic drugs that were commonly prescribed in the 70s and 80s - nasty stuff by all accounts, not used anymore. Illegal drugs to ruin the man, then crappy legal drugs to numb the damage. It's the ultimate L.A. type of story for the 60s through the 80s - I'm sure there will lots of books of varying quality and veracity, maybe more films, too. nat whilk ii Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted September 25, 2015 Author Share Posted September 25, 2015 But Landy clearly had boundary issues - became insinuated in all phases of Brian's life, including his musical career. He certainly got called on the carpet by the California Medical Board in later years - but according to an LA Times article, it was just one instance of dispensing drugs illegally that lost him his license. Yes, I was aware of this... and I have serious concerns about Dr. Landy's ethics... he certainly wasn't all good either. Considering what could have happened, I'm just glad Brian survived and came through it all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mandolin Picker Posted October 4, 2015 Members Share Posted October 4, 2015 Finally got a chance to watch it tonight - bought the DVD earlier this week. I think my wife summed it up best, in that it was hard to watch. Didn't know too much about Brian's past life, but growing up with the Beach Boys his music was a firm part of my youth. The comment earlier about the drugs being the chief culprit is dead on. Today as a medic, I can tell you that so called recreational drugs are taking good folks and ruining them. I can also tell you that I have seen too many folks on too many prescribed meds, and not just for mental issues either. One thing you learn in medic school is that every drug, recreational or prescribed, is a poison. Every drug has effects that are beneficial, and every drug has untoward effects. And every drug can kill you if you let it. While no doubt some of the problems he suffered were self inflicted, it just seems like he really didn't get the type of care he needed, when he needed it. He's not alone either. Lots of folks in the same type of situation. In the end, I am glad that he got his life back in order and is playing and singing again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members rasputin1963 Posted October 4, 2015 Members Share Posted October 4, 2015 There was talk of doing a biopic on Dennis Wilson, and his orgiastic cavorting with the Manson clan. Aaron Eckhart was to star. Now THERE'S a movie. But the movie never materialized for some reason. Maybe because Brian doesn't want that particular chapter of Beach Boys' history dredged up. Dennis went to his (watery) grave feeling he was partly responsible for Sharon Tate's death. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vito Corleone Posted October 4, 2015 Members Share Posted October 4, 2015 Don't know that Brian would have any say over whether anyone could make a movie about Dennis or not, could he? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members onelife Posted October 6, 2015 Members Share Posted October 6, 2015 Has anyone seen this film yet? Is it any good? As a lifelong fan of the Beach Boys' date=' and especially Brian Wilson[/b'], I'm definitely interested in seeing it. You might also be interested in this - highly recommended. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted October 6, 2015 Author Share Posted October 6, 2015 Thanks onelife - I'll try to watch that this evening when I'll hopefully have a bit more time to really focus on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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