Love & Mercy

The Beach Boys were among the finest rock bands in America. They are also one of the biggest liars in rock.

Their first lie is quite straightforward: Despite the fact that their early songs became synonymous with the laid-back, tanned West Coast surfer lifestyle, the band's members — three siblings, a relative, and a buddy — were not surfers.

The second deception is the more intricate one, and it is the one that "Love & Mercy" filmmaker, Bill Pohland, examines with devastating effect: Brian Wilson, the group's mastermind, was neither laid-back nor carefree. When he sang "Good Vibes," it was in striking contrast to the almost daily terrible vibrations that plagued him.

As one of the best movies about music, "Love & Mercy" alternates between two eras of Brian Wilson's life, eschewing the more common musical biopic conventions. While the other band members were on tour in Japan, we see the teenage Wilson (Paul Dano) stayed behind to compose his masterpiece "Pet Sounds." Wilson chose to remain at home in part due to his strong need to write music and in part due to his panic episodes when traveling.

Then we see a grown-up Wilson (by John Cusack) in 1980 — now shattered, drug-addicted, and under the control of an abusive and egomaniacal psychiatrist called Eugene Landy (by Paul Giamatti) — just as he starts a tentative affair with former model and Cadillac saleswoman Melinda Ledbetter (by Elizabeth Banks).

Year of Release: 2014

Stars: Paul Dano, John Cusack

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 89%