In the 60s, The Beach Boys’ leader, Brian Wilson, struggles with his mental illness while writing the song, “Love & Mercy.” Starring Paul Dano, John Cusack, and Elizabeth Banks.

This film bounces back and forth between two periods in Wilson’s life. One takes place in the 60s at the height of The Beach Boys’ career, when Wilson starts having psychotic episodes. Then, we jump to the 80s when Wilson meets a woman at the car dealership and starts a relationship with her. However, we see this relationship crumble and see how Dr. Landy’s control over him has no bounds. Paul Dano plays the younger Wilson, and he does a fabulous job at portraying the musical genius mixed with the scary beginnings of his mental illness. To me, the bouncing back and forth between the two different worlds was not an easy transfer. It’s abrupt and hard to focus on each story it’s telling. Over all, the film is long and, at times, too slow as the story weaves through Wilson’s life. However, this film is good enough for it to be worth a watch.