Rolling Stone journalist Jason Fine is driving around southern California. Beach Boy Brian Wilson is in the passenger seat. A camera mounted on the dashboard observes as they play Wilson’s back catalogue through the car’s speakers. Wilson doesn’t like interviews. Formally diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder, the singer-songwriter and producer has survived addiction, family loss and an abusive relationship with a quack doctor. It’s no wonder he’s reluctant to rehash the details of his life. The gentle approach taken by director Brent Wilson and co-writer Fine here shows they are keenly aware of their subject’s vulnerability, less interested in extracting anecdotes than they are creating a safe space for the 79-year-old to reflect on his remarkable legacy.
Archive footage of a round-faced, 22-year-old Wilson flirting with a newsreader makes for a poignant contrast with the artist today. Still, there remains something boyish about the septuagenarian. Cultural context is provided by celebrity talking heads including Elton John and Bruce Springsteen. Linda Perry, formerly of 4 Non Blondes, is the film’s sole female contributor, and its most insightful too. “You can tell this man is troubled, and trying to escape something,” she says.
When Fine encourages him to elaborate, Wilson isn’t especially articulate, but his emotional responses to the individual songs are often lucid and revealing. It’s heartbreaking to see him look back on the evergreen innocence of his songbook, from the winter of his life.
