Beyond The Sea Review
by Laura Clifford (laura AT reelingreviews DOT com)December 18th, 2004
BEYOND THE SEA
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At the age of seven, Walden Robert Cassotto (William Ullrich) of the Bronx was diagnosed with rheumatic fever and given about eight years to live, but his optimistic mother Polly (Brenda Blethyn, "Little Voice"), an old vaudeville performer, decides that singing is the proper course of action.
After having had a deep love of music instilled in him, the young man, who has reached the age of twenty, renames himself Bobby Darin and sets out to better Frank Sinatra and headline at the Copacabana nightclub in writer/director/star Kevin Spacey's "Beyond the Sea."
This odd vanity project is a good looking production with an overblown sense of its subject. Make-Up and Hair Designer Peter Swords King ("Quills," "Velvet Goldmine") has made Spacey an uncanny replication of Darin and Spacey's performances of Darin's material is equally impressive, but Spacey cannot convince us that Darin deserves equal footing with the iconic Frank Sinatra.
Spacey addresses his own age (forty-five, almost ten years older than Darin was when he died) right up front. A nightclub performance of Darin's signature "Mack the Knife" is exposed as a film set scene, where Darin, surrounded by friends and family, is documenting his own life for posterity. 'How can you be too old to play yourself?' Bobby asks cronies Steve Blauner (John Goodman, "O Brother, Where Art Thou?") and Dick Behrke (Peter Cincotti, "Spider-Man 2"), addressing Spacey's critics.
After pondering different ideas as to where to begin his film, Bobby follows the advice of the young costar who is playing himself as a boy and, drum roll, begins at the beginning. A brief montage shows Darin's progression until he finally achieves fame by penning "Splish-Splash" for himself. As in the other recent musician biopic, "Ray," Spacey lays out Darin's ability to cross musical genres, not content to stay with the teenybopper audience of his first hit. The film's first act is capped with Darin's courtship of Sandra Dee (Kate Bosworth, "Win a Date with Tad Hamilton!"), his costar in his first real movie role, the Italian shot "Come September." The second act charts Darin's successes, including hit songs, an Academy Award nomination for 1964's "Captain Newman, M.D." and that dreamt of pinnacle, a gig at the Copacabana, where he eventually bests Sinatra's attendance record. The final third, using the corny symbol of a running down watch, notes Darin's marital difficulties, political activism and career rejuvenation after a long stretch of irrelevance, a difficult period during a serious health decline (Darin performed his later shows with the benefit of an oxygen tank at the ready offstage).
Spacey and co-writer Lewis Colick ("Ladder 49") use the film's structure to work performances of Darin's songs into his life and not keep them stagebound. The film set approach also allows Darin to comment upon his own life. Darin isn't whitewashed, his huge ego noted as both a deterrent to family life and an on set irritant, but his heroism isn't only attributed to his anti-war crusade and overcoming health obstacles. Darin's chivalrous behavior on his wedding night is charming and his fight for a black opening act for his first gig at the Copa is admirable. The screenwriting duo make much to much out of Darin's maternity, however, with the surprise revelation that his sister, the uncouth Nina (Caroline Aaron, "Along Came Polly"), is actually his mother given the same overwrought treatment that tinges the whole film.
Spacey certainly looks and sounds like Darin, but his dry downtime performance sometimes shows the actor peeking through. One must admire the actor's generosity, though, particularly in sharing the big tap dancing finale with young costar Ullrich. Bosworth isn't as remarkable a physical transformation as Hollywood's "Gidget," but the young actress does a fine job showing the sheltered actress come into her own, then use booze as a painkiller when her husband's ambition threatens to overwhelm their marriage. Blethyn is period perfect as a song and dance vet, but Aaron overacts as the unrefined Nina. Bob Hoskins ("Maid in Manhattan") adds warmth as Nina's husband Charlie, a father figure to Darin. Greta Scacchi ("The Player") is amusing as Sandra's possessive and disapproving ('You should have paid more attention to that Rock Hudson') mother Mary.
The production itself is first rate, designed by period specialist Andrew Laws ("Down with Love") and brightly photographed by Eduardo Serra ("Girl with the Pearl Earring"). Costumes (Ruth Myers, "Connie and Carla") pop with color as much as the locations where Berlin is a surprise and successful stand-in for New York, Las Vegas and Beverly Hills.
B-
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