| Beyond The Sea |
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directed by Kevin Spacey Actor/director Kevin Spacey fulfills several urges by telling the life story of the late singer/actor Bobby Darin. The talented yet arrogant Darin could have a remained a teen idol but instead, by embracing swinging versions of the Brecht/Weill classic "Mack The Knife" and Charles Trenet's "La Mer/Beyond The Sea," he displayed an individual and outspoken streak. Well, that attracted Spacey to him and the talented though sometimes arrogant actor has made a sometimes fascinating, sometimes infuriating quasi-bio pic. Though he defies biographical convention (and admits it with a disclaimer at the film's end that acknowledges how some elements of Darin's life have been altered), he has made an inspired, if flawed and fractured, film. An exemplary cast of character actors supports Spacey such as Kate Bosworth (as his wife Sandra Dee), and Bob Hoskins (as his brother-in-law and counterweight to Darin's hot temperament). Dead at 37 from a congenital heart disease, Darin ended a fast-paced yet troubled life and a far too short career just as he was about to launch a hot variety show. Spacey uses fantasy sequences and song/dance routines to tell of Darin's traumas; it's an ambitious effort and entertaining fare though not always smoothly executed. While he gets to be a song-and-dance man, and champion a singing star that is now underappreciated, Spacey sometimes expects too much from his audiences with strange time shifts and cinematic asides. Nonetheless, he proves to be a credible performer and looks more like Darin than on first glance- especially after you see old pix of the real thing.
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