Beyond The Sea [DVD]

This could so easily have become a vanity project, but happily it is an entertaining and reasonably well-realised biopic of singer Bobby Darin.I say biopic, but it is presented in such a way as to give an impressionistic view of Darin and his career rather than an historically accurate one – at one level it is almost a musical in the theatrical sense, with structured dance routines and fantasy scenes; this is largely down to it's opening premise of a “film within a film”; it is, therefore a little unconventional, though a fairly imaginative piece of screen-writing.Spacey is outstanding in the part and the musical content is all one could hope for with excellent big band scores and attention to detail; the cinematography is first-rate and Kate Bosworth deserves special mention for her portrayal of Sandra Dee.The film didn't do well on release and came in for a good deal of criticism, but it's better than that suggests – I think with time and it's release on DVD those views have softened; I certainly enjoyed it well enough to consider writing this review anyway.I note one reviewer here has stated there are no extras; my EIV edition has both a director/producer commentary and short “making of” documentary on it so perhaps there is more than one version around.A decent enough musical film, probably of most interest to Darin`s fans but certainly not exclusively so.

This is a truly great film - I recommend if you do by it to watch the Making of Documentary on the DVD Extras part of the disc, this goes into the making of the film and it will show you lots of behind the scenes work that will enhance your appreciation of the finished product.Well I bet you never knew that Kevin Spacey had experience in performing in musicals? Well neither did I. He does all his own singing and dance moves in this film too.The film is really worth a look, it is not a nuts and bolts docu drama, but represents a fairly accurate portrayal of Bobby Darin's life and experiences.The film covers many facets of Bobby Darin's life, the film gives you the real feel good songs, the emotions of life on and off stage, it shows that Bobby Darin was a hugely talented man who knew he only had a limited life expectancy due to his health but he made the most of what he had in terms of talent and determination to succeed.The portrayal of Bobby Darin by Kevin Spacey is remarkable, it is hard to tell where the actor and the singer separate it is that good. Kevin Spacey sings All the songs in the film, no backing tracks here and does all the dance sequences which are brilliant.Kate Bosworth is excellent as Sandra Dee Darin's wife, a cast of actors such as Bob Hoskins, Brenda Blethyn, John Goodman etc really do bring this film to life.The film does for its length manage to tell facets of the eventful life of Bobby Darin.If I have one critcism of the fim, it has to be that the makers should have also filmed Kevin Spacey doing the Bobby Darin numbers in a concert format as such, that would have been such a great performance to have seen full length versions of the songs.However, that is just an opinion and would only put the icing on top of an already great film.I would also recommend the CD Beyond the Sea which has full length versions of the songs from the film too.

Being a fan of the swing era and in particular Darin I couldn't wait to see this movie when I first heard about it being made. Knowing about the people involved, what story it had to tell and the format it would take I just knew this would be amazing from the first minute to the last. Kevin Spacey is currently the finest actor to ever grace the silver screen, and he will go down in history as one of the finest to ever grace it. Bobby Darin in contrast was one of the finest singers of the great musical generation, was basically the first ever teen idol and has definitely gone down in history as one of the most entertaining and charismatic singers of the swing generation.Before the film had even come to the screens, there was constant talk about whether Spacey was too old to play the part being 45 at the time and playing Bobby from his early to later career. In some respects it may be true that Kevin may have been too old to play the part, but he certainly put my fears to rest. The opening sequence of the film is an elongated introduction to the legendary song of "Mack The Knife" in which we're instantly introduced to Spacey as Darin making his way to the stage. The minute Spacey hits the stage, grabs the mic and engages the audience of actors you know that he was born to play Darin.The story quite simply focuses around the life of Bobby Darin starting off modestly in his childhood when being taught the piano and to sing by his Mother, then growing into becoming the star he is. At the age of 8 Darin overheard a doctor tell his mother that he (Darin) would be lucky to see 16 years of age, so he lived in constant fear of his own mortality and developed high determination to live his short life to the fullest. Throughout the story we come to see the people he met that changed his life forever, especially his first wife Sandra Dee (Kate Bosworth).Being a Biopic Musical is something you don't regularly see, but when it does come around it certainly is an experience and this is made all the better with Spacey doing his musical performances. I honestly didn't realise that Spacey had such vocal talent, but the mimicry of all of Darins mannerisms are certainly something special. The dialect, the movements, the charisma and the aura are all expressed superbly throughout the film. In effect Spacey overshadows the entire supporting cast with his truly outstanding performance throughout. I'm not sure why but Spacey seemed to put that little bit extra into this performance, whether it was to prove the critics wrong or whether it was to do Darin justice I simply don't know, but what I do know is that it was wonderful.Mentioning the supporting cast, there are certainly a few big names in there such as John Goodman as Darins manager, Bob Hoskins as his sisters husband and of course Kate Bosworth as the fabulous Sandra Dee. A special mention should go to William Ullrich as he plays a young Bobby Darin and actually performs a few musical duets with Spacey within the film. He's a delightful kid and very talented and possibly the only one not to be overshadowed by Spacey's presence.Overall I would advise you all to ignore the negative critics on this one and at least give it a chance. Of course, if you don't like it then, then at least you can say "well I gave it a shot and it just didn't work for me." This isn't a film for everyone because of its subject and its format as some simply aren't fans of musicals, but judge each film on its merit that's what I say.