MovieChat Forums > Love & Mercy (2015) Discussion > I think two things hurt the movie

I think two things hurt the movie

posted 9 years ago by Cobb05
8 replies | jump to latest

The movie was good, but it could've been better. I really think having two actors playing Brian was a bad choice. I think it did a disservice to both actors. If you only had one actor, you would've connected with him more. I think subconsciously it makes it feel like two movies, so it doesn't play as well. I also think having two different points of view (young Brian and Malinda) again doesn't work. Having young Brian's pov, you are drawn into his story. By then cutting to Malinda's pov, you lose that connection. Possibly if older Brian would've been the same actor, you would've had more of a connection.

[–] TxMike 9 years ago

Meh!

..*.. TxMike ..*..
Make a choice, to take a chance, to make a difference.

[–] WarpedRecord 9 years ago

It seemed like an odd choice at first, especially because the two actors aren't that far apart age – and don't particularly resemble each other (or Brian, for that matter, especially John Cusack). But after a certain point, I was so engrossed in the story, I barely noticed or cared.

[–] TxMike 9 years ago

With no intention to nit-pick, if you see old video of Wilson in his 20s and then in his 40s and 50s you'd see that Cusack resembled him more than Dano did in their respective time periods. Cusack also got Wilson's speech and mannerisms quite nicely.

But to the original point, I found it a great way to tell the story, having two different actors because the Wilson in the 1960s was quite different from the Wilson in the 1980s and forward.

..*.. TxMike ..*..
Make a choice, to take a chance, to make a difference.

[–] matski1955 9 years ago

I have to agree I felt like was watching two movies, and felt more compelled with Brian in the 80's

[–] Carlie64 8 years ago

But I enjoyed the movie. I always thought the same thing that Brian says about their music " we aren't surfers , we never surfed and surfers don't listen to our music" . Also, was he really mentally ill or just exhausted?

[–] rainofwalrus 8 years ago

I felt that awful 10 second black-frame during the Opening hurt the movie far more than anything that followed. So pretentious.

Enjoy these words, for one day they'll be gone... All of them.

[–] MestMest 8 years ago

I don't know. I thought both actors were good in the movie, but the fact that Paul Dano was GREAT kind of made me care less about John Cusack's portrayal. Once I started watching, I was just more and more excited for them to get back to Paul Dano.

[–] michaelingp 8 years ago

Initially I didn't think it would work, since Cusack would always be Cusack to me, but by the end of the movie I thought the casting was brilliant. Having the two actors made it really easy to tell which part of his life you were seeing. The way they told the story it really was like the Brian (past) and Brian (future) were two different people so the casting did not distract me at all. It's hard for me to describe, but since I knew it was not the real Brian Wilson (as in a documentary, for example), I just suspended disbelief and found the story profoundly moving on so many levels.