Hartford Advocate's film critic on BEYOND THE SEA.

[NightTrain]

Spacey as a pop crooner
by John Boonstra - January 6, 2005

For years, actor/director Kevin Spacey dreamed of shooting the story of '50s/'60s pop singer Bobby Darin. Darin died at age 37, and Spacey's already too old for the part, but he plows ahead anyway with Beyond the Sea . It's an undeniably interesting odyssey, as Darin moves from Elvis-inspired rocker to Sinatra-styled crooner to an introspective Dylanesque singer-songwriter.

Working behind a false Italianate nose and beneath a Darin toupee, Spacey summons up the snap and crackle required to perform Darin's vocals, and does a credible job. Who'd have guessed that the closest this fine actor would come to capturing Darin would be in the singing department? He eventually looks the part, sort of, once Darin ages and becomes moody and melancholy upon the death of his political hero, Bobby Kennedy, coupled with some startling news about his own past. But that's four-fifths of the way in. The only way Spacey can succeed even halfway in persuading us that he's not beyond the age limit for portraying a man who became a star in his early 20s is to construct a bizarre framing device which has Darin, near the end of his short life, starring in a film dramatization of his own story. This permits a reporter who's snuck onto the set to pose the Big Question head-on: "What do you say to those who think you're too old to be playing this role?" How very odd. It doesn't defuse the issue, and it's damned peculiar to find it hanging there in midair from the filmmaker himself.

Kate Bosworth is quite good as Darin's missus, Sandra Dee; John Goodman, Bob Hoskins, Brenda Blethyn and Greta Scacchi round out an admirable cast list. A fascinating, flawed effort, though much squinting is required to suspend one's disbelief.