Saw the new Brian Wilson biopic last night. I actually hadn't particularly wanted to figuring I was already so familiar with his story that it wouldn't be that interesting.
But watching it, I had the opposite reaction: it was gratifying to see that the filmmakers didn't take any liberties, and faithfully represented his life just as it was. Cutting back and forth between the older and younger Wilson worked, too.
Paul Dano did a fantastic job as the young Wilson, John Cusack a good job as the older version. Wilson's father Murray was portrayed as the bullying taskmaster he was. And Dr. Eugene Landy was shown as the sociopathic leech he was. (Paul Giamatti is fearless about playing loathsome.)
Making a movie about a genius -- as opposed to an action hero -- is difficult, because it's hard to dramatize thoughts coming out of someone's head. But the recording sessions with the studio musicians captured Wilson's creativity and perfectionism, and the movie hinted at the way other musicians were in awe of him after Pet Sounds came out.
Not the most exciting movie ever, but if you're already in awe of Wilson's music, it's worth seeing.
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I learned that Brian Wilson is Wendy and Carnie's dad. What I've read about him, he comes across as a good man. Unfortunately, he came under the grips of an evil, selfish sociopath. Thankfully, his present wife helped get him free of the psycho doctor.
-birdie
Birdie --
Yes, he's their father, though neither his daughters nor his brothers shared his genius.
And yes, Landy was a classic sociopath. Wilson's father was also a bd guy, and Mike Love was evidential more of a pain than he was portrayed as in the movie. He was himself as composer, too, though he had none of Brian Wilson's talent, and he later sued to have his group, and not Brian Wilson's group, have the legal right to call themselves The Beach Boys.
Having just read about Mike Love, my impression of him is that he's full of himself.
-birdie
Birdie --
After the life that he's led, I don't blame him for being full of himself, but I don't think he should have tried to wrest control over the Beach Boys from Brian Wilson, who really WAS the Beach Boys.
Mike Love seems to be an ego maniac, being super impressed by himself. What he did to the original members of the Beach Boys is craziness, kicking them out of their own band. He comes across as a narcissist. Brian Wilson doesn't strike me as a narcissist - he's a humble man. That's my take on these two men.
Anon (Birdie?) --
True enough. Brian Wilson certainly has more reason to be egotistical than Mike Love, yet somehow he isn't. Wilson was probably one of the two greatest musical geniuses of the 20th century, and may compare to those of other centuries as well. Yet he remains a strangely childlike, innocent, open figure. Probably not a coincidence.
Brian Wilson was doing what he loved - making music. He experienced mental illness possibly as a result of taking drugs, derailing his life for a period of time. Brian Wilson doesn't seem to have a mean bone in his body - he is childlike, needing good-hearted, savvy people in his life to help protect him from the wolves in this world.
-birdie
Oh yeh, that was my comment. I thought I had signed it.
-birdie
Birdie --
Yes, he was surrounded by leeches, no question. And he didn't seem to have any natural defenses of his own; his beautiful music seems to have come straight from his heart, and it almost seems as if in order for that to happen, he couldn't have erected any of the usual defenses. That's how he comes across, at least.
I'm a massive Beach Boys and Brian Wilson fan.
I saw a YouTube interview with Brian where he said that in High School he would walk around with his arms protecting his body and head owing to the surprise random physical assaults from his father Murray.
Murray Wilson was most definitely a Narcissist, you can hear it in his rants, you can find them on YouTube. In one he clearly tells the Band that he is a genius too!
I believe Murray broke Brian who is a sensitive person. I bet Murray didn't treat mentally or physically stronger people like he did his sensitive son. I believe Brian bore the brunt of a good part of Murray's narcissistic rage.
John Cusack is interesting choice for the older Brian although I heard he nailed it.
Cant wait to check this one out.
Andrew
Andrew --
I think you're right on all those counts. Murray Wilson was an odious guy, and the movie captured him perfectly. That line about him being a genius too is actually in the movie.
I thought Cusack did a god job, and thought Dano did an incredible job. I wouldn't be surprised if he gets an Oscar nomination for that role.
I have been researching the Beach Boys. LOL. Before your post, I hadn't known much about this band. I plan to see the movie, being impressed by Brian Williams. This poor man knew a few really bad people in his lifetime, his father being one of them. I learned that Mrs. Williams left her husband in the 1960's, getting divorced from him. I'm guessing her husband's temper had a lot to do with her decision to kick her hubby to the curb.
-birdie
Birdie --
I think you'll enjoy the movie, and find its accuracy gratifying. Murray Wilson is portrayed as the unpleasant man he was, but Dr. Eugene Landy is even worse. Hadn't known about the divorce, but it makes sense. The whole situation the boys found themselves in was incredibly complicated, what with that, the pushy father, the stardom, the 60's as backdrop, and the drugs. One ting the movie never mentions is how Charlie Manson for a time glommed onto Dennis Wilson and hung around the studio a bit. But this movie was really Brian's story, and Dennis and Carl weren't give much focus; they were just shown as supportive backdrops. They didn't even pick a particularly handsome guy to play Dennis, though he was site handsome in real life.
Sorry, I meant Brian Wilson, not Brian Williams. Ugh!
I look forward to seeing the movie. When Brian Wilson was a young guy, he was handsome. He looked like a good person.
-birdie
Birdie --
No problem, it was obvious what you meant…..Brian Wilson was a good person, if not a great one, and he was unquestionably a great musical genius. But I never saw him as handsome, he and Carl were always the pudgy ones in the band. And BTW, I meant "quite" and not "site" in the last line of my previous comment.
What happened to Brian Wilson with his "doctor" Eugene Landy was very similar to another famous Los Angeles celebrity shrink/patient relationship, that of Ralph Greenson and Marilyn Monroe. Greenson (born Romeo Greenschpoon) was himself something of a celebrity, being the subject of a movie ,Captain Newman, M.D., and had been well known for treating WWII veterans for what is now called PTSD. Greenson became involved with Monroe's life at every level, having over to his house for dinner with his wife and children, and hiring a woman to work as her housekeeper while spying on her. The difference, of course, is that Wilson escaped Landy, while Monroe proved unable to escape Greenson.
Former Darfur Miller --
That's interesting, thank you. My first question is, was greenson the one who was responsible for her becoming a junkie? She was addicted to barbiturates (I think) by the end of her life, and I think it was some sort of overdose of them that did her in.
Ny second question, which I'm sure will occur to everyone else who reads your comment, is, did he get to do her? (From the sound of it, I'm guessing yes.)
Monroe was always irresponsible, driving her directors crazy with her constant tardiness etc. And she had all sorts of issues stemming from that fragmented childhood. So I guess she was easy pickings for a vulture like Greenson.
I doubt Greenson was having a sexual relationship with Monroe. There is no indication of that, and generally you don't bring women you are having sex with home to the wife and kids. (Joe Kennedy did, but that was an aberration.) I think it was about control and power, not sex, for Greenson.
The prevailing theory is that Monroe was given a rectal suppository or enema containing an inadvertent overdose of Nembutal and/or cloral hydrate. The dosage was at least ten times the LD50 for 'acclimated" subjects leading to many thinking that it was an error on the part of the medically untrained Eunice Murray. Had someone who knew better wanted to kill her they would have used much less.
Substantial evidence including a final paycheck written by MM on the Friday before she died to Murray-which, after Monroe was found dead, Murray stupidly tried to cash!-exists that Monroe was trying to get out of this relationship. She was very much isolated from several of her former friends and associates at that point, but she had just signed a deal to finish her current film at twice the original money.
However several years later, another actress patient of Greenson's, Inger Stevens, did commit suicide. Greenson's sister was the wife of Sinatra attorney Mickey Rudin and subsequent to Monroe's demise, Sinatra pointedly refused to talk to the woman for the rest of his life. Many suspect Sinatra knew more than he was saying.
Former Darfur Miller --
Thank you. You may be right that Greenson wasn't having sex with Monroe, but my guess is that at the very least, that was his aim. Why would any heterosexual guy (which I"m assuming he was, given his wife and kids) want that much control over Monroe unless there was a sexual element to the equation? He couldn't have been interested in her for her intellectual insights. And while she may have found him unattractive (I just Google-imaged him, he looks sorta like Groucho Marx), he was, after all, her dealer, the provider of her fix, and junkies ail do anything for their fix. So….I'd be surprised if he didn't take advantage of his power over her.
That's right, the rectal suppository, I'd forgotten about that. And weren't RFK's guys the first on the scene after her death? Sinatra was tied in with JFK at one point, though as I recall JFK tried to distance himself after a while. And JFK famously had that affair with Monroe, and didn't Bobby follow him? (Sorry, to lazy to look it up at the moment, and I"m trying to catch up with all the comments on yesterday's post.)
Anyway, thanks, that's all interesting. And yes, to your larger point, some of these doctors can be extremely unethical and Svengali-like. And, after all, the guy thought to have possibly been the most prolific serial killer of all was Dr. Harold Shipman of England, with upwards of 200 victims. Brian Wilson was lucky to have broken free of Dr. Landy.
Most of Monroe's pills were prescribed not by Greenson but by Hyman Engelberg, her personal "regular" physician: she also had a gyno, the famous Red Krohn who was famous for being the ob/gyn (and, it was rumored, abortionist) to the stars.
I have little doubt that Monroe had sex with JFK, but I do question if there even was any affair with Bobby at all, and it's pretty certain that while Jack boffed a lot of movie queens, his most serious such affair was with Angie Dickinson.
Former Darfur --
Okay, thanks. You know a lot more about Monroe than I do. My mind always seems to take a dirty turn, but I have to think a lot of those docs got their hand son her, in more than a professional way.
It's my impression of Bobby that he got around, albeit in a much quieter and more discreet way than his brother. I vaguely remember hearing that he had followed in his brother's footsteps not only with Monroe, but also with Jackie after the assassination. (Please don't ask me to name my sources, I can't remember them.) But I do remember reading in some (Vanity Fair?) article that when she was older Jackie kept only one picture by her bedside, and it wasn't of JFK, but of RFK.
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