Brian Wilson And John Cusack Brought Good Vibrations To Music Box

By Joel Wicklund in Arts & Entertainment on May 20, 2015 4:00PM

Considering the extreme psychological, physical and pharmaceutical turmoil Brian Wilson has been through in his life, it's amazing the creative force behind The Beach Boys is still breathing at age 72—let alone coherent enough to field questions from fans, as he did Monday night at the Music Box Theatre. But Wilson seemed pretty sharp as he joined actor John Cusack on stage following an advance showing of Love & Mercy, a new bio-pic about the pop music innovator.

An appreciative crowd packed the theater for the quietly promoted freebie screening and though Evanston native Cusack was clearly a major draw, the biggest applause was understandably for Wilson. Having endured an abusive upbringing, a free fall into drug use and morbid obesity, and crippling exploitation by his former therapist and manager Eugene Landy, Wilson carries a survivor's stature as well as being a cultural icon.

With Scott Tobias of The Dissolve moderating the Q&A session, the pair talked about the film, in which Cusack plays Wilson in the late 1980s, during the latter years of his time under Landy's control. Those scenes are crosscut with '60s era scenes with Paul Dano as the younger Wilson, as he was making his greatest artistic contributions while also approaching a personal breakdown.

Cusack said the notable physical differences between Dano and himself were always intended to be made obvious. "I think the conceit of it is that there is no one, definitive portrait of anybody," he explained.

Cusack's local roots are well known, but while Wilson may be forever connected to sunny California, he did keep a home for some time in suburban St. Charles.

Mainly congenial during the questioning, the music legend did show a little impatience that left much of the audience a bit aghast when an emotional fan related (admittedly in rambling fashion) what Wilson's music meant to him in a rough patch after his grandmother died. As the fan told his story, Wilson curtly interjected, "Your time's up. Let the next person up."

Fortunately, there was nothing else in that awkward vein. Wilson kept to quick but polite answers while Cusack came across as charming and genuinely thrilled to be sitting next to the man he called "the Mozart of rock and roll."

'Love & Mercy' opens on June 5. Chicagoist will have a review of the movie closer to the opening date.