Beyond the Sea (2004)
This is one of those films that I saw for the lead actor, and it ended up becoming one of my most favourite films of all time.
The film is a period-piece revolving around the legendary singer Bobby Darin. Starring (and directed by) Kevin Spacey, it follows Darin’s rise to fame and his family life with Sandra Dee. Although, as Kevin Spacey said himself: “Beyond the Sea is not a linear story at all. It’s not what people will expect and it’s not a biopic. It’s my statement”.
Now, I’ll be honest. I’m not a huge fan of singers in Bobby Darin’s time (for example I cannot STAND Sinatra) and I did truly see this film for Kevin Spacey, since he’s one of my favourite actors, but I thoroughly enjoyed the 2-hour feature. Not only that but now I desperately want all of Bobby Darin’s songs on my iPod and have to wait to get them.
I’m a film geek, and admit that I know very little about music. So when an opportunity arises to me to see a film about a singer/band, I generally ignore it. Not because I dislike the singer/band, but because most of the time I like the music and don’t particularly care for the story (of course there are exceptions such as Pink Floyd and Edith Piaf and, obviously, Bobby Darin now). With this film, I heard good reviews and happened to have extra money when I went to the video store to get something else. I wouldn’t say I’m “shallow” if I choose a film for the main actor or director rather than the storyline, because good acting and handling of even bad material can make a wonderful film (alternatively, good acting and directing can sometimes not save a terrible script from oblivion).
The film is based on Bobby Darin (Kevin Spacey) making a film about his life, and from that it becomes the journey that the audience take with Bobby as he remembers good times and slowly falls victim to illness and passes away. It is narrated and driven by both Kevin Spacey and William Ullrich (who plays young Bobby) and sometimes uses songs to describe or play out a scene than mere dialogue, which adds a certain musical and somewhat magical quality to the film, reminiscent of Chicago and La Vie En Rose (both of which are excellent).
The cast are incredible, with big names like Kate Bosworth, John Goodman, Bob Hoskins and Brenda Blethyn filling out the support roles, and the direction is smooth and well-paced; and considering Spacey both directed and starred in the film is also very impressive.
While the film is narrated and pulled along by Darin and his young counterpart, it is not fully from his perspective. Many aspects – such as his family relationships and his illness – are seen through his eyes, but other things such as his reception, outward actions and effects of his fame are shown from an outside point of view, making the film very well rounded and more honest. At least, as honest as can be when the film is about someone who is no longer alive to tell his story in person.
Although this film has many songs in it, it is not strictly speaking a musical. It would fall without doubt under period piece and drama, with aspects of comedy and tragedy, romance and historical. It’s a film that I think can be enjoyed by anyone. As I said, I knew nothing of Bobby Darin or his music before I saw this and I enjoyed the film thoroughly. Of course, if you aren’t a fan of Bobby Darin then don’t watch the film. Unfortunately I do have to say obvious things like this since some people don’t tend to take hints and then complain for far too long about how they hated the film completely for its content.
I would give this a 7/10 and recommend it to anyone who likes good music, films about music and singers, good acting and entertaining scripts. Fans of Kevin Spacey will really enjoy this, I think, because as you (fellow fans, I mean here) know, Spacey is a genius actor and is truly amazing no matter who he has to play or what genre the film happens to be (eg. Se7en)
