LOVE & MERCY

While there are no tickets left, it's worth noting this weekend's Midwest premieres of Bill Pohlad's new film. After a decade as producer of acclaimed films including Ang Lee's "Brokeback Mountain" and Steve McQueen's "12 Years a Slave," the Minneapolis financier moved behind the camera to direct the Brian Wilson biography "Love & Mercy." The drama, starring Paul Dano and John Cusack as the legendary Beach Boys composer in parallel stages of his talented yet troubled life, has been winning scads of praise. Variety called it "a vibrant cure for the common musical biopic," while the Washington Post said Pohlad stole the show at September's prestigious Toronto International Film Festival with this "extraordinary, even visionary chronicle." No wonder Walker Art Center and the Minneapolis/St. Paul International Film Festival (MSPIFF) partnered to present it on consecutive nights, with Pohlad on hand to discuss it. The official opening comes June 5, but for some things you just can't wait. (7:30 p.m. Fri., Walker; 7:30 p.m. Sat., St. Anthony Main, sold out.)

Colin Covert

KNUCKLEHEAD

Here's another MSPIFF closing-weekend film with Minnesota ties. Langston (Gbenga Akinnagbe of "The Wire"), a lifelong resident of Brooklyn's rough Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood, has developmental delays and temper issues that have kept him living at home with his tyrannical mama (Alfre Woodard in a minor but unforgettably harsh role). After his protective brother is shot, Langston is more determined than ever to become "mentally excellent" through help from drugs he sees advertised in a magazine. When a young smart aleck from the 'hood takes him on his first trip to Manhattan to seek out the "doctor" featured in the ad, Langston learns some hard but necessary truths. Minneapolis native Ben Bowman's feature debut (⋆⋆⋆½) has its sentimental moments, but it's a touchingly realistic take on dealing with mental illness in a poor urban setting. (7:20 p.m. Fri., 9:30 p.m. Sat., St. Anthony Main, $10-$12. www.mspfilm.org)

KRISTIN TILLOTSON