Review: Beyond The Sea

Vibrant colors, catchy music, and extravagant dance numbers come together to create a whole new world for singer Bobby Darin.

Director: Kevin Spacey

Writer(s): Kevin Spacey and Lewis Colick

Starring: Kevin Spacey, Kate Bosworth, John Goodman, Bob Hoskins, Brenda Blethyn, Gretta Scacchi, Caroline Aaron, Peter Cincotti, William Ulrich,

Plot: The story follows singer, Bobby Darin through his career as musician, singer, and songwriter. Showing us all his hardships, uplifts, and obstacles throughout through a new a world, A world seen through eyes of Bobby himself.

4/5 Tonies

“Ahmet, when the delivery guy knows me, then I’m a star.”

Do you like singing? How about dancing? What about stories? Scenery? No? Well, this movie is definitely not for you. But if you’re trying to veer away from the typical format movie watchers indulge in: welcome home.

Beyond the Sea follows the life of artist Bobby Darin, played by Kevin Spacey, displaying his accomplishments, obstacles, and relationships that molded the man into a star. Directing, writing, and starring, Kevin Spacey manifested the life of Bobby Darin in a noteworthy and celebratory fashion.

I’ll start this by getting into the problems people had with the film.

Often, when this movie is brought up in a critical circle, you will hear someone say: “Kevin Spacey helmed this film for his own personal gain,” and so on.  Basically, people claim that this film is nothing more than a vanity trip for Spacey; giving him something to boost his ego. This isn’t the case at all. Spacey seems to really connect with the material and give us a product that is nothing more than the pure labor of love. Spacey had fought for this role for years. At first the producers wanted to cast Leonardo DiCaprio but Spacey took vocal lessons, was persistent and persevered.  He had to be one of the best choices—Spacey becomes Darin in this film. He truly personifies the character while pouring his heart, mind, and voice onto the screen. This was more than just a vanity trip. Spacey took this project and put all that he could into it.

This film was expertly designed; from the writing to the acting to the directing and everything in between. Something that really stuck out was the transitions between scenes. They bob and weave so well, so gracefully, it’s mesmerizing. In the scene where Darin is attending his mother’s funeral we see him standing over her coffin. In the distance we hear the rhythm of Darin’s song “Mack The Knife” as he steps away from the coffin and a dressing crew helps him get clothed for what we find out is a TV appearance. He gets dressed and steps through a door of nothing but light and finds himself on a stage. This is a brilliant example of the natural, dream-like, state the film inhibited visually. This movie holds much more than entertainment value: It takes you into the world of Bobby Darin in a flash of integrity and hypnotism.

Along with the transitions the vibrant colors are prevalent; not only visually appealing but the colors helped give this movie a fantastical feeling. As you watch you forget that it’s a biopic about the life of an artist. It feels like a whole new world. It is like you step right into the mind of Bobby Darin and truly connect with his journey to becoming a star.

The acting is far from ordinary. Kevin Spacey went above and beyond to truly become Bobby Darin. You begin to almost forget that you’re seeing Spacey on the screen. One thing that was truly impressive was the voice of Spacey. He sings throughout the whole film and his voice unbelievable. Resembling that of the great singers of our pastime such as: Sinatra, Bennett, Martin, and of course Darin. (Side note: I actually preferred Spacey’s voice to Darin’s . . . don’t shoot me.) Spacey personifies so many levels of emotion and passion when he sings. One of the best songs would have to be “The Curtain falls” which is the song he sings before he passes. The simplicity and emotion that was put into this song was breathtaking. I was just left in awe of how powerful the scene was. Performances like this are something that stick and leave an impression. Something that keeps you thinking back to yourself: “Wow, that was something.” Kevin Spacey poured everything that he had into this film and succeeded.

All in all, this film was molded into something fantastic. This heartfelt, catchy, and visually mesmerizing film will keep you happier than a fat kid with cake . . . whoever thought of that similarity is quite depressing.

Buy it, rent it, become a criminal, do whatever you need; just be prepared to step into the world of Bobby Darin.

PROS: Directing, Acting, Producing, Music
CONS: Um...
RATING: 4/5 Tonies

Written by Anthony Centeno