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Herald rating: * * *
In this musical biography of singer and actor Bobby Darin, Kevin Spacey is credited with directing, starring in, co-writing and co-producing the film. Needless to say it's been a pet project of his, and one that could perhaps have done with fresh eyes.
The film starts with Darin (Spacey) directing himself in a film about his own life, and struggling to work out how to start it. You have to wonder whether Spacey had the same problem. Beyond the Sea kicks off with this idea about a film within a film, but that idea fades as the fantasy-like singing and dancing routines take over, and the film turns into an all-out musical.
Spacey energetically sings and dances his way through Darin's early years as a Grammy-winning musician and Oscar nominee, and his marriage to actress Sandra Dee (Bosworth).
Driven by his admiration and respect for Darin he does a good job of representing him as a great performer, even if at 45 he's a bit old to be playing Darin, who died at 37 during heart surgery.
About two thirds of the way through the film as Darin's career dries up, so does the choreography and jazz, and Spacey flicks into drama mode, making a last-ditch attempt to get us emotionally involved. But he leaves it too late. Spacey has created a colourful, whimsical and upbeat portrayal of an artist, but gets confused by tricky storytelling techniques, and musical numbers which overshadow the story.
Unlike the Ray Charles biopic Ray (which was released in 2004, the same year this film was released in the US), or Walk the Line, Beyond the Sea suffers from looking and sounding great, but lacks a dramatic kick.
Spacey's positive approach to Darin, and his reluctance to mention the bad times (like the fact he divorced Sandra Dee) makes the film feel like a long version of Bjork's It's Oh So Quiet music video, rather than a dramatic tale of an artist lucky to have lived past 15.
The highlight of this film must be the music. For those Darin fans out there Spacey has crammed in many of his hits, including his first in 1958 Splish Splash, the popular Mack the Knife and the ballad Dream Lover, as well as some of his later folk material.
There is no doubt that Spacey does a great job of portraying the entertainer, but he's so wrapped up in this project that he fails to see that it's become a collection of musical numbers without any real heart.
Cast: Kevin Spacey, John Goodman, Bob Hoskins, Kate Bosworth, Brenda Blethyn
Director: Kevin Spacey
Running Time: 106 minutes
Rating: M (offensive language, sexual references)
Screening: Academy Cinema
Verdict: Superb singing and dancing from Spacey, but film fails to deliver dramatic punch.