Review of Beyond the Sea (2004) by Mike P — 08 Jul 2010

This movie introduced me to Bobby Darin, an amazing performer who was lost to us mere months before my birth...

For that Mr. Spacey has my eternal gratitude as Bobby is now and forever will be my favorite singer.

The movie itself is a bit odd...but mostly in a good way. Rather than being a traditional biopic, its more of a long music video highlighting Mr. Darin's career...with Mr Spacey doing an outstanding job of recreating Bobby's performances.

The music scenes have a dreamlike quality, and the narrative isn't always accurate...but one does walk away with a better understanding of who Bobby was, even if many details are un-addressed.

The primary complaints I've heard about the film...

Spacey is too old to portray Darin...who passed in his 30s...I would not disagree with this in a perfect world...but Spacey's adoration for Darin shines through in the film, and I don't know how successful it could have been with someone lip-syncing the performances...nor could many others have done as good a job as Spacey in the singing department...leading me to the second thing I've heard bemoaned...that it was Spacey's vanity to try to recreate Darin's masterpieces instead of using Bobby's original vocals.

This was cleared with Darin's estate only after Spacey convinced them of the necessity. The huge musical numbers could not be adequately edited to fit Darin's vocals...only new sound tracks would do...something Bobby was unfortunately unable to do himself.

And did I mention Spacey did a wonderful job with this? The guy can sing. Darin he ain't...but when Bobby's vocal equal comes along I'll be the first to call for a remake...until then this will do quite nicely.