10 Made-For-Television Movies That Are Actually Worth Your Time

7. The Beach Boys: An American Family (2000)

It's not hard to see why The Beach Boys were seen as TV-movie material. Look at the band's story: a group of teenagers record a chart-topping demo in a garage and become world-famous. The success is marred, however, when the band's boy genius (Brian Wilson) turns to drug abuse. The group struggles to stay credible while trying to save their leader. During the course of their career, they encounter overbearing psychiatrists, bad parents, band in-fighting, serial killers, and fickle fans and critics. The Boys' story has all the elements for great drama. The best film version of the Boys' story is the 2000 TV flick The Beach Boys: An American Family. The film doesn't cover the full story of the band; it ends after Brian Wilson's first drug recovery. The movie does, however, do a good job of depicting what it does cover. The best parts of the film are the portions that show Brian creating Pet Sounds (arguably the greatest pop album of all time) and the months when Charles Manson descended on Dennis Wilson (the band's drummer)'s house. It's fascinating to see Brian as the mad genius during the Pet Sounds sequences. The Manson scenes are made great by one of the most accurate portrayals of Charles Manson that there's ever been (by Erik Passoja). It's scary how well Passoja depicts Manson; it's like watching the real Manson. I remember seeing this movie as a kid and being underwhelmed by it. Then again, an eleven-year-old kid isn't going to be the best critic. Upon revisiting the flick, I found it to be much better than I remembered. If you're a music buff, you can't afford to miss this film.