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DVD Beyond the Sea
The chameleon-like actor Kevin Spacey is best known for playing pyschopaths (in Seven and The Usual Suspects) and capturing a creepy mid-life crisis in American Beauty--but surprisingly, playing crooner Bobby Darin, Spacey does some snappy dancing and top-notch singing. Beyond the Sea puts Darin's life through a bit of a kaleidoscope: While singing Darin's most memorable hit, "Mack the Knife," Darin suddenly stops the show, revealing that he's not at a nightclub, but in the middle of a shooting a scene about his life as a nightclub performer. Why has he stopped? Because he's just seen himself as a young boy, peering from behind a curtain. Such self-conscious narrative twists recur throughout the movie, turning Darin's fight for fame and respect into a love story between his adult and childhood selves. Sandra Dee (Kate Bosworth, Win a Date with Tad Hamilton!), a hugely popular movie star in her own right, was supposedly the love of Darin's life, but she never holds his attention as does his childhood self (played by newcomer William Ullrich). It's a striking metaphor for the narcissism that drives such success-hungry entertainers. But despite (or perhaps because of) the complexity of the telling, the events never grip your emotions; though Darin's life featured hits galore and a few soap opera twists, his story lacks the seductive charm of his nighclub show. Also featuring Bob Hoskins, John Goodman, Brenda Blethyn, and Greta Scacchi. --Bret Fetzer
wow some people are so critical!! i thought it was a fun enjoyable movie. kevin spacy was excellent in both song and dance. i kind of came upon this movie by chance and i am glad i did!
Great job by Kevin Spacey, everyone else not so much...
As writer, director, singer, and actor in this film, Spacey's work is absolutely amazing. His acting is perfect, the film fits together decently enough, he can actually sing, and hey, we care about his character enough.
Further than that, this film doesn't really pay off.
A musical biography of the musician Bobby Darin, this film attempts to explore his rise as a national star and his relationship with Sandra Dee. Neither of those things are quite played out well. For the story of his rise, it kind of goes right from him deciding to be a star (by his mother's influence) and then him just being a star. As for his relationship with Sandra Dee, it doesn't seem believable and I wonder how much of it is based in actual fact. Still, it's not like the film doesn't have a story.
Kudos MUST be given to Spacey for his acting. I couldn't tell what part of the personality was his or Darin's, so I could only assume it was actually how Darin was as a person. Supporting acting is fine, only it's not as good as Spacey's, so it often causes a little dilemma on-screen while Spacey's trying to act off of someone else who's not acting as well as he is. Perhaps someone else should have directed the other actors, but Spacey did as much as he could in front of and behind the camera.
--PolarisDiB
Beyond my attention span.
Kevin Spacey is a great actor. Okay that said now on to Beyond the Sea his (first that I know of) directorial debut. My attention slid within the first scene when we are presented with Darin performing for a night club audience which is not really a night club and what we are watching is surreal re-enactment of Darin's life directed by Darin with the support of his family (or at least the actors that play his family). Not confused yet? The scene is interrupted by Spacey as Darin seeing what turns out to be a boy age Darin peeking from a curtain (a motif used several times in this movie). Young Darin is so much wiser for some reason and pops up at key times in old Darin's life or at least the retelling of it with advice. There are 1950's musical Gene Kelly style dance numbers that are throwaway and just prolong the film. I wont go into the miscasting here, this is a vanity project beyond all vanity projects but I will say Spaceys heart is in every scene. The big bombshell dropped late in the movie involving who Darin's real mother is will not be a surprise to any of Darins fans therefore the emotional impact of this plot twist is null.
Beyond the Sea may remind you of Bob Fosse's "All that Jazz" which Fosse' wrote and directed. Jazz has fantasy scenes, musical numbers which seem natural as well as dreamlike over the top and tacky. But with Jazz you know the difference between fantasy and reality something that Beyond the Sea doesn't seem to care about. Spacey as writer director could have pushed this story into a more conceptual artsy direction or a paint by numbers bio film like Ray. Spacey's own physical presence in the role made the latter impossible. Instead of using Darins life story, talent and music as a fable, Spacey has made a mildly entertaining half baked tribute film.
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From Hollywood's legendary Cocoanut Grove to the pioneering conquest of the wild blue yonder, Martin Scorsese's The Aviator celebrates old-school filmmaking at its finest. We say "old school" only because Scorsese's love of golden-age Hollywood is evident in his approach to his subject--Howard Hughes in his prime (played by Leonardo DiCaprio in his)--and especially in his technical mastery of the medium reflecting his love for classical filmmaking of the studio era. Even when he's using state-of-the-art digital trickery for the film's exciting flight scenes (including one of the most spectacular crashes ever filmed), Scorsese's meticulous attention to art direction... 