- Award Snub: A lot of people felt that Paul Dano deserved to be nominated for Best Supporting Actor. He was nominated for the Golden Globe, but come the Academy Awards, he was nomination-less. Again.
- Nightmare Fuel: Eugene Landy is this incarnate. A seemingly reasonable, compassionate and terrifyingly persuasive man who insists on controlling every aspect of Brian's existence and making him wholly dependent on his treatment with Brian totally unable to see him for what he is and his family powerless to stop him. Reportedly, Paul Giamatti's portrayal was so much like the real Landy that Brian Wilson had a disassociative episode and imagined he was back with him, leaving him terrified.
- Questionable Casting: Director and producer Bill Pohlad often received confused reactions from people for casting John Cusack as '80s Brian, saying that they looked nothing alike. Pohlad, having put great effort into his research for the film, would respond with, "Actually, he does, if you look back at that one era."
- Strawman Has a Point: Mike Love is portrayed as a contrarian jerkass, particularly with his skepticism about Brian taking the band in a new direction on Pet Sounds. However at the time they were one of the top bands in the world because of their lighthearted songs about surfing and having fun. Many of those songs have remained timeless classics for fifty years so he doesn't see why they should break a successful formula.
- The Woobie: Brian Wilson, in both time periods. In The '60s, his artistic visions are often dismissed by his bandmates and father, and he's slowly losing his mind to drugs. In The '80s, he's under the control of Dr. Landy and has lost contact with all of his loved ones.
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