There are many films devoted to the Beach Boys: several biopics (including “Love years Mercy” by Bill Pohlad), TV films, documentaries… For “The Beach Boys”, Frank Marshall (co-producer of the “Indiana Jones” saga and more great Spielberg) teamed up with director Thom Zimny, faithful archivist of Bruce Springsteen, with the ambition of summarizing in two short hours the complex story of one of the most popular groups in history.
Chronological, the story follows the protocol of American “storytelling”: the anecdotes follow one another, often tasty, taken from filmed archives: “Surfing? I tried it once, and the board grazed my head. I never set foot on it again,” confesses Brian Wilson. The influence of the vocal group The Four Freshmen, the first rehearsals, the departure – then the return – of Al Jardine to pursue higher studies, the emulation born from the rivalry between Beatles and Beach Boys… It’s all there.
Smooth, but dizzying
It is further away, around the stumbling blocks, that the story fascinates. Faced with the influence of his father, Murray Wilson, on his sons’ group, the false casualness of the younger brother, the hostility of Mike Love towards the musical experiments of his cousin Brian, the latter’s psychiatric drift… Many will discover that the Beaches Boys were once two different groups: the one giving concerts around the world, and another responsible for instrumental recordings (notably “Pet Sounds”), composed of Brian and musicians from The Wrecking Crew.
Involved in the production of the film and visibly anxious to restore its damaged image, Mike Love omits or minimizes the sordid legal affairs which will ruin the group. Ditto, the drugs, the conflicts, the casus belli around the “Smile” project, the drowning of Dennis Wilson… Everything that embarrasses the survivors seems deliberately smoothed out in this Disney production.
The essential thing remains: the dizzying music of Brian Wilson, genius turned ghost.
On Disney+, from May 24.
