Beyond The Sea Details

This is very much a labour of love for Kevin Spacey, who, as well as taking the all-singing, all-dancing lead, co-wrote and directed this biopic of crooner Bobby Darin. Beyond the Sea charts the singer's astonishing life from an illness-ridden childhood (he was told he wouldn't survive adolescence) to his death at the tragically young age of 37, taking in Darin's recording triumphs, marriage to Sandra Dee (Kate Bosworth), success in Vegas and Hollywood and a career-damaging flirtation with Vietnam-era protest songs. Spacey is outstanding as Darin, delivering a note-perfect re-creation of the singer's style and hoofing his way through the dance numbers with aplomb. But the film's structure — a strange blend of flashbacks and fantasy heavily influenced by Fellini's 8½, which makes it unclear as to whether Darin is actually dead — will prove too odd for some viewers.

Kevin Spacey spent much time and effort in trying to get this life of Bobby Darin made; for all his conviction, there's little evidence here that Darin's life was worth filming or that Spacey was the right person to play him.