Beyond The Sea (dir: Kevin Spacey, 2004, USA/Ger/UK)
It's an odd experience to see Kevin Spacey dancing. It's not something we've seen him do too much over the years - we never saw Lester Burnham do the polka or Keyser Soze swept away in the midst of a cha-cha, so the big dance numbers here take a bit of getting used to.
Spacey stars as legendary crooner Bobby Darin as well as directing this, his dream project as a huge Darin fanboy. The performance is good although it's difficult to tell whether he has Darin down, so little footage of the 50s superstar have I seen. Spacey though does much of the singing and has a pretty good voice - the music itself is fantastic, as you would expect, and pulls the movie through its baggier moments.
Despite some potentially dark events in Darin's life (all touched on here to varying degrees) this is an unashamedly large and lavish production. Don't let the thought of 45-year-old Spacey as a twenty-something Darin put you off - he holds his own during the big numbers more often than not, even compared to the pro dancers that surround him. It doesn't matter whether you are a Bobby Darin afficionado or essentially clueless about his life and career (as I was), this film will enlighten and entertain at the same time. Good fun.
3 Stars ***
It's an odd experience to see Kevin Spacey dancing. It's not something we've seen him do too much over the years - we never saw Lester Burnham do the polka or Keyser Soze swept away in the midst of a cha-cha, so the big dance numbers here take a bit of getting used to.
Spacey stars as legendary crooner Bobby Darin as well as directing this, his dream project as a huge Darin fanboy. The performance is good although it's difficult to tell whether he has Darin down, so little footage of the 50s superstar have I seen. Spacey though does much of the singing and has a pretty good voice - the music itself is fantastic, as you would expect, and pulls the movie through its baggier moments.
Despite some potentially dark events in Darin's life (all touched on here to varying degrees) this is an unashamedly large and lavish production. Don't let the thought of 45-year-old Spacey as a twenty-something Darin put you off - he holds his own during the big numbers more often than not, even compared to the pro dancers that surround him. It doesn't matter whether you are a Bobby Darin afficionado or essentially clueless about his life and career (as I was), this film will enlighten and entertain at the same time. Good fun.
3 Stars ***
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