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Beyond
the Sea (2004) Most boomers were pretty young when Bobby
Darin first made the scene with his hit song Splish Splash in
1958, but the song was funny enough for kids to get a big kick
out of it. The hit started his rise as pop idol and by the time
many of us were young teens, he was featured on Bandstand and
in teen magazines. Although most of his success was with pop songs,
Darin wanted to be considered an artist. Kevin Spacey’s
film about Darin shows the impact of singer’s long-held
desire to be taken seriously. A biopic within a biopic, Beyond the Sea opens
with Bobby Darin (Kevin Spacey) about to act out a scene in a
movie about his own life. He’s confronted with a child who
claims to not be acting the part of Darin as a child, but, in
fact he is the singer’s former self. From there, we take
a journey through Darin’s life, focusing on his singing
career and his marriage to Sandra
Dee (Kate Bosworth). Darin is living on borrowed time, a victim
of rheumatic fever as a child, he knows his days are numbered.
He also harbors a dream of breaking out of his pop idol mold to
become the next Sinatra. In many ways, this is a sad movie, Darin
has a self-destructive streak, and while it’s clear he and
Dee are in love, the marriage suffers from neglect and Darin’s
career quest. Yet, there’s a bit of hopefulness at the end,
a much kinder exit to his young life (Darin died at age 37) than
his real death. Spacey clearly has a love and respect for Darin and his music, and it is common knowledge it was a project he’d been wanting to do for years. The film got very mixed reviews. Some felt Spacey just didn’t “become” Darin, that his acting was removed and he was just too old for the part. Others said it was a heart-felt, moving performance. Most of Darin’s music was light and, well, charming. I went to see it for the music and Spacey, who sings the songs himself, does not disappoint. —Betty Boom |
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