Summer Dreams: The Story of the Beach Boys

I thought this was a good film that captured the essence of the Beach boys. The conflict with the Father and his unreasonable behaviour was well acted out as were the many changing faces, moods and music of this great band.

Of course in a 90 minute film covering many decades there will be omisions and errors but I was amazed at how much this film did cover. Most of the great songs are included and the actor playing Dennis Wilson was particularly good, although the Mike Love character was probably the most like the man himself, his role was underplayed.

My only real criticism is I would have liked to have heard and seen more songs and maybe some of the more joyful times that this band no doubt would have had, but overall a damn good film I'd say.

This film is currently running on cable (Nov. 2004) and I had not seen it previously. From articles I have recently read about the Wilson family, the depiction of their relationships is on target. However, trying to cram so many years of Beach Boys history into 90 minutes is too difficult. So of course, the writer focused on key conflicts which make for interesting TV, but left out a lot of the intervening story. The years go by way too fast, almost confusingly. I felt the best acting was done by the actors portraying Murray and Dennis Wilson...very believable and intense. However, as the movie progressed I became more and more distracted by the changing hair styles and some of the very poor facial hair creations (especially for Brian). My son and I started laughing whenever a new "bad hair day" began. Interesting trivia...the executive producer is "Steve Dahl" -- could this be the shock rock jock who burned disco records in Chicago back in '79 or so?

I saw this film a couple of years ago and being a Beach Boys fan, i was hoping the film would be a half decent biography. But as soon as they finish "God Only Knows" the film just becomes boring. It hardly documents on Brian's health problems and his road to recovery with the help of Dr. Eugene Landy, and it focuses on Dennis' involvement with Charlie Manson a bit too much. I just think it is too brief and it is hard to watch with interest when the songs finish. The film could have been so much better if they had gone more in depth and brightened it up with more songs. So much happened in the Beach Boys career that wasn't even shown in the film.

Does anyone know the name of the song being performed by the band on stage when the Beach Boys arrived for their first live performance, a band was playing a surfer instrumental on stage at the beginning of the scene. I would love to know the title of the song or the artist being portrayed. I hope all the members of the Beach Boys know that their influence and contributions were historical and will never be matched. I am glad to be a member of the 70s Generation. The movie shouldn't have focused almost entirely on the bad elements of the band. Dennis was the one spotlighted for trouble, but if you think about it, it was the actions of Dennis that inspired most of Brian's wonderful collection of landmark hits.

Considering the natural constraints that are built into a TV-movie, this one does a pretty good job of telling the Beach Boys' story. One might almost call it admirable. The script is based on Steven Gaines book about the group, 'Heroes and Villains,' and for the most part it deals honestly and straightforwardly with the band's roller-coaster ride over a couple of decades, a ride which unfortunately had more than its share of steep declines. Main themes include the struggle for creative control of the band between head of the Wilson clan Murray and eldest son Brian, the struggle for Brian Wilson's sanity as he tries to handle the responsibility of being the band's leader, and Dennis Wilson's problems with drugs and relationships that prove self-destructive.

It was easier to depict Dennis' earthy lifestyle than to delve into Brian's complex psyche, I suppose, so this turns into more of the Dennis and Brian show than one might imagine. The other group members Mike Love, Carl Wilson and Alan Jardine accordingly clear the stage for the most part. The music proves a bit problematic, too. Apparently unable to use original Beach Boys material, the imitations are not so terrible, but any true fan of the group will immediately note the difference. Love's voice proves a lot easier to recreate than does Brian's falsetto. One good scene has the boys performing their first song, 'Surfin',' for Mr. Wilson. The best musical sequence is designed to show Brian's blossoming genius at composing and arranging, and this occurs when the band is seen recording 'God Only Knows.' They even correctly showed Carl doing the vocal! But it seems the movie's producers didn't have the nerve to try and take on the Beach Boys' biggest hit and Brian's most glorious creation, 'Good Vibrations.' It's nowhere to be heard in this film.