Brian Wilson still haunted by his former psychologist

AS BIOPIC subjects go, Brian Wilson is a doozy. After all, the story arc of his almost 73 years seems far more the stuff of fiction than fact.

Physically and emotionally abused as a child (he claims he lost 96 percent of the hearing in his right ear to the corporal punishment administered by his father, Murray), he nonetheless went on to found the Beach Boys and serve as the iconic band's original bassist and chief composer, conjuring such pop-rock totems as "Wouldn't It Be Nice," "God Only Knows," "California Girls" and "Good Vibrations."

But he never was allowed to really enjoy his fame and fortune: A nervous breakdown in the mid-'60s took him off the road, and, in 1975, he came under the sway of Dr. Eugene Landy, a psychologist hired by Wilson's first wife, Marilyn, to help him through his many psychological, emotional and substance-abuse issues.

But Landy virtually took over Wilson's life, serving as the musician's gatekeeper (and keeping most people, including Marilyn and daughters Carnie and Wendy, away from him for two years) and micromanaging things to the point where, at restaurants, Wilson needed Landy's permission to order something from the menu.

Landy kept Wilson a near-prisoner for more than 15 years, until his family finally excised him, via legal means, from Wilson's life.

The story of Landy's reign of terror over Wilson comprises half of "Love and Mercy," director Bill Pohlad's take on two distinct segments of Wilson's life, starring Paul Dano as the 1960s Wilson and John Cusack as Wilson in the mid-1980s Landy years that continue to haunt Wilson now, even though his nemesis died in 2006.

"I saw the movie in progress, then I saw it on the screen. I was overwhelmed by the factuality of the movie. It was very accurate," offered Wilson during a recent interview at Center City's Hotel Palomar.

Wilson, who admitted that he "took a lot of drugs, and it messed up my mind," has a way with words that can charitably be described as "economical." But he made it clear that Landy, frighteningly captured in "Love and Mercy" by ace character actor Paul Giamatti, remained a figure of terror to him years after he had finally extricated himself from the ultimately disgraced therapist's clutches.

According to Wilson, who performs June 29 at the Mann Music Center for the Performing Arts, he and director Bill Pohlad had to wait until Landy's death to get the film project in gear for fear of reprisals, legal and, perhaps, otherwise.

He was, he admitted, "scared of Dr. Landy." And he found the scene in which Landy berates his wife, Melinda (played by Elizabeth Banks), extremely hard to watch. "I didn't like that at all," he said. "I just hung in there."

On the other hand, there's a scene early in the film that may explain how Wilson has managed to survive - and, at times, even thrive - during a life of multiple, real-life nightmares.

"My favorite scene was buying a car from Melinda," he said. It's the sequence that portrays how the couple met.