Brian Wilson: Long Promised Road

Different take on the interview process totally enjoyable ,music speaks for itself. Never tire of listening to his sounds. Seems like a special bond between the two of them.

LONG PROMISED ROAD is a very intimate documentary on Beach Boys co-founder Brian Wilson. Taking it's title from an appropriately titled Beach Boys track, filmmaker Brent Wilson (no relation) provides a basic overview of Wilson's career and there is a decent amount of performance footage (most of it of fairly recent vintage). There are interviews with musicians like Don Was, Elton John and Jakob Dylan. Still, the focus here is clearly on Wilson's personal life.

The Doc is structured around car trips with Wilson and Rolling Stone writer Jason Fine (Riding Around In Cars With Brian - as it were). The pair visit the past homes of the musician while chatting and listening to old songs. The most fascinating - and painful - portions concern Wilson's long history of mental illness which emerged just as the Beach Boys were ascendant. Parts are difficult to watch as Wilson opens up about how even the simplest things "scare" him. It got so bad that for a long period in the late 60s and into the 80s he was barely functional. A discredited therapist, Eugene Landy, held him almost under detention. Wilson was so disconnected that when the camera witnesses him listening to his late brother Dennis' 1970 solo album, it's supposedly for the very first time.

With that backdrop, it's all the more amazing that Wilson continues to record and tour even if his releases only have met with sporadic success. Those expecting a more traditional music doc or one centered on The Beach Boys, may be disappointed. There are some nice bits of historical footage, and a good bit about the recording of Pet Sounds; But LONG PROMISED ROAD is about Brian Wilson, the man, more than as a musician. Uncomfortable at times, one can't help but appreciate what he has accomplished all the more.

This was the first time I've heard about Brian's life. In the past I was such a huge Beach Boys fan that I didn't want to know what went on behind the scenes. This doco was amazing to watch. I loved it.

There's something sad about how some of the interviewees here talk about Brian Wilson in the past tense, because the man is still around, and he's still creative and engaged in music. Maybe they're subconsciously saying they think Brian Wilson today is divorced from the Brian Wilson of the 60s, but if so, that's a little unfair. It's not a slight against the documentary - more against the interviewees, even if they didn't realise they were doing it.

One thing that did bug me was how they didn't subtitle one of the interviewees who spoke in Spanish. Might just be a problem with the version available to be rented off YouTube, but the captions only offer a very unhelpful "speaking foreign language", which is pretty disrespectful to the guy (Gustavo Dudamel) and comes across lazy to the viewer.

Otherwise it's a nice music documentary. Not much info Beach Boy fans won't already know, but lots of good archive footage and new footage with Brian Wilson himself, who's an interesting and sympathetic subject for a documentary.

It's nice to see him continue to battle his personal demons and continue to live his life now almost at the age of 80. And I liked the bond he has with music journalist Jason Fine, with their conversations being necessary in this documentary, as it's acknowledged that Wilson struggles with traditional interviews.

So overall it's a nice but not completely remarkable music documentary. I'd still get it to a 7/10, because I do really love the music of Brian Wilson and The Beach Boys, and being a big Bruce Springsteen fan, I liked seeing him fanboy out over The Beach Boys in his interviews here.

On the eve of his 80th birthday, I watched this celebratory 2021 overview of Brian Wilson's life and career. His musical legacy is well covered here through interviews with fellow luminaries like Bruce Springsteen, Elton John, and Don Was. His countless personal tragedies are also recounted in detail (including the deaths of brothers Dennis and Carl), but the personal impact on Wilson felt somewhat elliptical due to his ongoing mental struggles. Rolling Stone editor Jason Reis does a good job eliciting some insight by gaining Wilson's trust in what comes across as private conversations. What remains clearest is Wilson's desire to keep making music, a lot of which still sounds great.