Bobby Darin died at the age of 37 and achieved most of his success before the age of 27. Kevin Spacey was 44 when he played Darin in Beyond the Sea. The physical resemblance is there but the casting comes 10 years too late.
Since Spacey also co-wrote and directed the film it's impossible to avoid the criminal charge of vanity project. And Beyond the Sea is guilty on all counts.
What could have been a tribute to youthful energy and success in both the music industry and old Hollywood is instead a creepy tribute to an Academy Award winning actor's lifelong dream of playing a teen idol. It's a memorable film, but not in the way Spacey would have liked.
Of all the biopics released in 2004 this is the only one that made me physically uncomfortable watching it.
As a film, Beyond the Sea manages to be both fast paced and dull. The screenplay rushes through important events in Darin's life bringing them to the screen in one flat scene after another. There's little emotional context or connection with any of the characters. Spacey already loves Darin, so the audience is supposed to as well. It doesn't work.
Nowhere is Spacey's age more apparent and unsettling than in the central romance with Sandra Dee (played by Kate Bosworth, who turned 21 during filming). At the time of their marriage in 1960 Darin was 24 and Dee was 18. In the film, their courtship has all the romantic impact of The Woodsman.
Yes Spacey can sing and as a director he stages a few complicated production numbers. But, thanks to the overall low energy level provided by Spacey the director, actor and writer, even the production numbers fail to pop the way they should. It's not until the very end, when relief is plainly in sight, that the movie has a true showstopper.
We'll forget for a moment that this movie was released around the same time as The Aviator (Leonardo DiCaprio was one of many actors once mentioned to play Bobby Darin). There's little reason Beyond the Sea couldn't have been at least as good as, say, Mark Rydell's James Dean TV movie with James Franco. In fact Beyond the Sea might have worked better on television, where standards are sometimes lower for this kind of material. Spacey could even be a serious Emmy contender.
But, unless there was a more appropriate actor in the lead role, I'd still find it creepy.
2 comments:
I totally agree with you on the physical discomfort thing — absolutely excruciating to watch. Worst biopic of the year, and a strong contender for worst film overall.
Ok Geoff, we need to talk. If you want to trash Godsend or Final Cut, go right ahead. However, the Lions Gate films that have my name in the credits are off limits. If you continue to bad talk films I've worked on then you'll be cut off you hear me?! I don't care if Kevin Spacey grossed you out, this isn't Variety so get over it.
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