Beautiful Dreamer: Brian Wilson and the Story of 'Smile'

In my opinion, The Beach Boys are possibly the most overrated 'pop' band in history. Striped shirts, falsetto vocals, Mike Love, and not an ounce of grit or sweat between them. Well, maybe Dennis had an ounce or two. That said, whilst I remain a committed nonbeliever in the genius of the film's subject, Beautiful Dreamer is undeniably a moving experience. Brian Wilson's continuing battle to overcome mental illness is a truly heroic one, and even though the man can't sing anymore, he still puts his heart and soul into everything he does. The music may be overproduced slush, but Wilson believes in it heart and soul, and for that he must be commended. Fans of the band will be extremely happy with this overly respectful but solid documentary tribute to a man and his art.

David Leaf directed this thoroughly entertaining documentary as presented by Showtime, a chronicle of Beach Boys musician Brian Wilson's career and his valiant attempt to resurrect the shelved project "Smile", which was to follow the Beach Boys' artistic breakthrough "Pet Sounds" from 1966. Reassembling the orchestral parts and harmonies, reconstructing the lyrics with help from his songwriting partner Van Dyke Parks, Brian Wilson returns to his artistic preeminence before our eyes. The painstaking work involved is absorbing to watch and often fascinating to behold, and the live concert which concludes the film is marvelously satisfying. Wilson himself is a tough nut to crack; a moody and mercurial genius, he becomes so nervous just before the show that he almost cancels out on the whole thing--which mirrors the fate of "Smile" in 1967! A remarkable musical journey, filled with talented names from the past who are more than happy to savor and share in Wilson's triumph.

"Beautiful Dreamer" is a lovingly produced account of the rise and tragic fall of Brian Wilson and his subsequent musical and spiritual rebirth, centered around the piece of music that was both his undoing and his salvation--the legendary pop symphony "SMiLE." Using straightforward narrative and extensive interviews from friends, collaborators and "witnesses," David Leaf's film follows Brian from his creative zenith with the Beach Boys, 1966's incomparable "Pet Sounds," through his creation with lyricist Van Dyke Parks of an even more ambitious follow-up, 1967's ultimately-aborted "Smile" project. Participants as diverse as Sir George Martin, Paul McCartney, Danny Hutton of Three Dog Night, Elvis Costello, Leonard Bernstein (in archival footage) and many others recall how Wilson inspired them to create some of their best work, not least of which was the Beatles' "Sgt. Pepper" album.

The documentary clearly puts the blame for Brian's collapse (and "Smile"'s failure) at the feet of the other Beach Boys and especially Mike Love, who envisioned the group as a "cash cow" as long as nobody messed with the cars/surf/girls "formula". Interviewees (Wilson's closest friends among them) debunk longstanding urban legends about Brian's alleged drug use and its supposed blame for his collapse, and the film offers glimpses inside Brian's paranoia--notably how he came to believe his composition "fire" was actually causing buildings to burn.

Most inspiring, the documentary shows how Wilson's backup band, the amazing alt-pop group the Wondermints, helped him to revisit the original compositions and augment and arrange the surviving segments into a cohesive score. It's truly inspiring to see Wilson's transformation from the throes of depression and mental illness to joyous, unencumbered musical genius as the completed "SMiLE" debuts to a sellout crowd in London.

Rich with rare archival footage and revealing interviews, "Beautiful Dreamer" handles its subject with care, giving both longtime Wilson fans and newcomers plenty to "smile" about.

The idea that the Beach Boys are "overrated" is subjective. Who is doing the rating and who is doing the reading will make all the difference.

There are personal likes and dislikes that can't be judged or accounted for

completely, even by those who hold them. These basic things strike us in a

certain way, or another.

But practitioners of music, people who work in the industry won't say of the Beach Boys "overrated," for the simple reason that the catalog is so diverse, and some of the stuff is among the most innovative and "significant," to quote

Leonard Bernstein music of its time. Don't Worry Baby, Warmth of the Sun, Pet Sounds and SMiLE, for a few examples. The entire surfing and car group of Top 40 songs too, were unprecedented. To the millions who love any of these

styles, they will always be under-rated, for they have given deep emotional

solace and/or musical challenge.

Composition, arrangement, orchestration, performance and perhaps most of all, recording production boundaries have been pushed aside by Brian and some

of the others, conferring innumerable new artistic and technical satisfactions across the entire popular (and even jazz and classical) business landscapes.

So "overrated?" Not in the impartial musical sense. Only the personal.

Beautiful Dreamer is a wonderful documentary about this phenomenon.

After years of reading books, magazines, listening to bootlegs, compiling my own mixes on cassette, watching made-for-TV scripted films as well as documentaries, which I switched off after the SMiLE section, there's finally an entire film about the one album. Thank God. Now, for all of us who obsess, this is the perfect documentary. rare photos, film footage, modern-day interviews, behind the scenes rehearsals for the recording sessions and the tour, it's all there. It's everything you wanted to know about SMiLE and then some. No longer merely touched upon for its 5 to 10 minutes in the grand scheme of things, SMiLE is out there. I think now Brian Wilson can not only retire in extreme wealth, but also at peace. His dream has finally been realized and the cameras let us watch it all unfold.