We lost the legendary Brian Wilson this week, and it’s hard to sum up just how much Wilson and The Beach Boys mean to me and millions of other fans. Even if you’ve never listened to a Beach Boys album, you’ve almost certainly been impacted by their music in one way or another. One of those ways is through movies. Brian Wilson’s music–with and without The Beach Boys–has been a part of dozens of great music moments in movies.
There are a couple of great examples that deserve an honorable mention here, because while they are great Beach Boys songs, Brian Wilson had little or nothing to do with them. “Kokomo” from Cocktail helped revive the band’s career in the 1980s and became their last #1 hit, but it wasn’t written by Wilson, nor did he play or sing on it. “Feel Flows” is one of the many great songs on the Almost Famous soundtrack, when it plays over the end credits, but that song was pretty much the sole creation of Brian’s brother, Carl Wilson.
Now that that’s out of the way, here are just a few times Wilson’s music has made great movies even better.
“I Get Around” – Good Morning Vietnam
Good Morning Vietnam is one of the best movies about Vietnam, and has an incredible soundtrack of music from the 1960s. “I Get Around,” which plays over one of Adrian’s signature radio broadcasts in the movie as scenes from around Saigon are shown on screen, is one of The Beach Boys’ biggest hits. It’s also one of many that drove a wedge between Wilson and bandmate (and cousin) Mike Love when a lawsuit brought by Love gave him co-writing credits. Released in 1964, it’s perfect for any Vietnam movie.
“God Only Knows” – Boogie Nights
“God Only Knows,” written by Wilson and lyricist Tony Asher, has sometimes been called the greatest pop song of all time. The song features some of Wilson’s finest singing on any track in his career. It’s also a song that really shows off Wilson at the peak of his creative powers, with the layered instruments and vocals from his fellow bandmates.
In Boogie Nights, the song appears during a montage of the characters after they’ve left the adult film industry, some successfully, some less so. The haunting melody of the song gives both an ominous and triumphant vibe, depending on which character director Paul Thomas Anderson is highlighting in each shot. It’s magical, just like the song.
“Wouldn’t It Be Nice” – Roger & Me
It’s not rare to see Wilson’s bright, sunny Southern California music with The Beach Boys used to contrast dark moments on film. Nowhere is this better exemplified than in the opening of Roger & Me, Michael Moore’s breakout documentary showing the crumbling of Flint, Michigan in the 1980s.
In the film, Moore interviews one of his friends, an auto worker named Ben, who has ended up in a mental institution after being laid off five times in five years. Ben recounts the moment he snapped and the song on the radio that was playing when it happened, “Wouldn’t It Be Nice.” It’s an uplifting song that understandably sent Ben over the edge, and as the song plays, Moore takes audiences on a tour of downtrodden Flint. The contrast is stark, to say the least, and it helps make Roger & Me one of the best documentaries of all time.
“Good Vibrations” – Vanilla Sky
Director Cameron Crowe really knows how to use music in his movies. Vanilla Sky has some amazing music moments. One of the most famous comes at the end of the movie when Tom Cruise‘s character starts to realize what is really going on. The Beach Boys’ masterpiece “Good Vibrations,” which is another example of that bright, sunny, carefree sound, is suddenly made dark and menacing. It’s something that Wilson’s best work has the ability to do; there is always a little pain behind the sunshine.
Radiohead’s “Everything In Its Right Place” usually gets the most attention from Vanilla Sky’s amazing soundtrack, but “Good Vibrations” is just as impactful in the chaotic scene, which ends with Cruise on the roof and facing his leap of faith. If you don’t believe me, you can see for yourself with a Paramount+ subscription.
“Sloop John B” – Forrest Gump
Forrest Gump is another classic movie that features The Beach Boys in a scene set during the Vietnam War. “Sloop John B,” which quietly plays in the scene when Bubba (Mykelti Williamson) and Forrest (Tom Hanks) first meet Lt. Dan (Gary Sinise), isn’t as prominent in the mix as some of the other songs on the soundtrack makes an impact when Wilson sings the words “This is the worst trip, I’ve ever been on.”
“Sloop John B,” which appears on Pet Sounds, is the only song not written by Wilson on the legendary album, but he does sing lead on it (along with Mike Love), and he certainly is responsible for the arrangement and production of this version of the Caribbean folk tune.
“California Girls” – A View To A Kill
The first James Bond movie I ever saw in theaters was A View To A Kill, and that opening scene, with James snowboarding to the surf-classic “California Girls,” might be where my love of The Beach Boys began. It’s a very un-James Bond-like song, but it’s so funny and perfect that it doesn’t matter.
“In My Room” – Love & Mercy
There are a whole bunch of songs that I could’ve chosen from Love & Mercy, the amazing biopic about Brian Wilson. To be honest, my favorite music moment in the movie comes at the end when the real Brian Wilson (as opposed to the two actors who play him in the movie, Paul Dano and John Cusack) is shown performing his amazing song that the movie is named after. Alas, that’s not a Beach Boys song, so instead I chose the scene with “In My Room,” as Wilson, as played by Cusack, is in the depths of his mental health crisis and lying on his bed, quite literally in his room.
The song works unbelievably well in this moment in the movie, as it is one of, if not the, most haunting songs Wilson ever wrote. It’s just raw emotion put on record in a way that only a genius like Brian Wilson could pull off. It, like that part of Brian’s life, is just so sad.
We lost a truly great artist when Brian Wilson died. He was an amazing talent, on par with the most enduring composers of all time, like Mozart or Beethoven. His music will be enjoyed for centuries, as will the moments in these movies that he helped bring to life.
