Beyond The Sea Review
by Jon Popick (jpopick AT sick-boy DOT com)December 13th, 2004
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It's the end of the year, and that means biopics, biopics, biopics. They're the kind of movie that, no matter how middling, maudlin, contrived or clichéd, draw what us industry folks like to call "serious awards consideration" for no reason other than the fact that they're about famous people. So far this millennium, 10 Oscars have been doled out to actors portraying non-fictional characters, and another 22 have been nominated for doing the same. And, wouldn't you know it, so do the leading contenders in this year's race (Jamie Foxx, Javier Bardem, Liam Neeson, Kevin Kline, Leonardo DiCaprio, Sean Penn, Laura Linney, Cate Blanchett, Kate Winslet, etc.).
The latest entry to this over-praised, under-welcomed genre is Kevin Spacey (The Life of David Gale), who portrays singer/actor/entertainer Bobby Darin with enough aplomb to merit the aforementioned "serious awards consideration." Trouble is, Spacey is also the film's director and producer, and Beyond the Sea is clearly one of those "Battlefield Earth"-type labors of love that, while perfect and unbelievably important in the minds of their creators, go over like venison stew at a vegan brunch.
Sea, which isn't even this year's only un-recommendable biopic with Sea in the title, is a movie cobbled together so curiously, the studio "forgot" to slap a screenwriting credit on the back of their For Your Consideration screener. It's framed in a film-within-the-film gimmick (which we saw earlier this year in De-Lovely - another biopic), presumably so that Spacey can poke fun at the absurdity of a 45-year-old guy playing a teenager before any critics can. Darin, an asshole perfectionist, is at the end of his career, making a non-existent film about his life story, and the kid playing the younger version of himself (William Ullrich) tells him he's doing it all wrong before suggesting how their tale should be told.
This lazy plot device enables the Darin character to jettison reality and burst into song at the drop of a hat, which admittedly, isn't my cup of tea unless Homer Simpson is somehow involved. Darin is a sickly kid who isn't supposed to live past 15. Darin's mom (played by either Brenda Blethyn or Caroline Aaron - it doesn't matter, since they were both in Pumpkin) pushes him into the business we call "show." Darin flounders. Darin gets a toupee and changes his name. Darin becomes a rock star, but wants to sing standards. Darin becomes a successful standards crooner, but wants to act.
Darin wants to act, but can't win an Oscar. Blah blah blah. I stopped feeling sorry for him when the schtupping of Sandra Dee (Kate Bosworth, Win a Date With Tad Hamilton!) started.
Spacey does all of his own singing, and sounds uncannily like Darin. He's always been a terrific impressionist, and it's obvious Spacey has a deep fondness for Sea's protagonist (that might be an understatement: digging Darin up and tossing his salad wouldn't be too far removed from the lathering love-fest that's happening here). Spacey and writer Lewis Colick (Ladder 49) supply a bunch of half-jelled stuff between the lavish song-and-dance numbers, almost like somebody contriving a half-assed story to connect a dozen of an artist's music videos. It's a nice collection of dated songs, but horribly paced and completely insubstantial as a film.
And don't believe what anyone says about Bosworth's performance. She plays Dee with the frightening robotic cuteness and shallow vapidity that Rizzo promised in that song from Grease. Props to Bob Hoskins (Vanity Fair) for sounding like Burgess Meredith's brother, but this baby is all Spacey. He's practically in every frame of Sea, and your potential enjoyment will be directly related to how much of him and Darin's music you'll be able to stomach.
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