If you're going to do a biopic of Brian Wilson, the musical mind behind an unconventional album like the Beach Boys' Pet Sounds, you probably ought to break convention, even if it's just a little bit. Director Bill Pohlad serves up a healthy portion of the standard stuff: bad dad, bad trips, commerce vs. creativity, singular genius vs. the group dynamics of a band, etc. Oh, and the obligatory "studio musician asks if musical hero understands the weird thing he's asking for, then smiles in amazement when it all works out." Happily, Pohlad also colors outside the lines, setting a solid half of the film — the more interesting, more dramatic half — in the sad days after the spotlight has faded. (Sad because the man has faded along with the spotlight.) The Brian Wilson (a haggard John Cusack) who comes in to buy a Cadillac from Melinda Ledbetter (a heartfelt Elizabeth Banks) is not okay. His doctor (an alarming Paul Giamatti) agrees, but his course of treatment is...questionable. The result is very much the story of a man who made music, as opposed to a showcase for the music he made. With Paul Dano as Wilson in his younger days. (2015) — Matthew Lickona
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