A vainglorious valentine, but either act or direct. Please don't do both.
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12/05/04
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Beyond the Sea (2004)
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Reviews Counted:148
Fresh:63
Rotten:85
Average Rating:5.2/10
Consensus: Kevin Spacey’s bio of singer Bobby Darin is either a fearless piece of showmanship or an embarrassing vanity project, according to critics.
Theatrical Release:Dec 17, 2004 Limited
Box Office: $6,144,806
Synopsis: For BOBBY DARIN (Kevin Spacey), performing was his life. It kept his heart beating. He came alive onstage, even when he was near collapse offstage. In BEYOND THE SEA, Bobby tells his own story.... [More]
Starring: Kevin Spacey, Kate Bosworth, Brenda Blethyn, Caroline Aaron
Director: Kevin Spacey
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Reviews for Beyond the Sea
When you compare Spacey's versions to the original music, Spacey clearly adds a spark and sizzle to the tunes that was missing from the original.
01/03/05
Spacey's devotion to Darin may have blinded him to the bigger picture.
12/17/04
It's a car wreck, a sideshow. You simply have to watch, there are so many things going so terribly, terribly wrong.
12/16/04
Top CriticIt's a monstrous guilty pleasure for people who want to see a whole movie just like the asparagus scene in American Beauty.
01/05/05
Kevin Spacey's dedication is clear, both in his performance as Darin and in his wonderful direction
08/20/06
Serious moments have softened edges, the film rarely feels heavy. Always interesting and entertaining, but never especially deep and certainly not dark.
04/06/05
Fails to persuade us that its subject is significant enough to be worth a movie.
12/29/04
Falls short in many ways, from its vaudevillian-esque sensibility to the look-at-me-Ma attitude pervading every frame.
12/27/04
You have to hand it to Spacey. He gets by on sheer willfulness. He believes so much in his cockeyed dream that we come to believe in it, too.
12/30/04
Directorial chutzpah is not nearly enough to save this dull and distant vanity project.
12/14/04
Much more 'Splish' than 'Splash.'
01/15/05
A total vanity project, although in this case the vanity is mostly justified.
12/08/04
Not so much a biopic as a performance art project...
01/03/05
Great music and a few good scenes do not a movie make.
12/13/04
Top CriticBeyond the Sea is a beautiful whirlwind musical homage to crooner Bobby Darin's remarkable career and astonishing life...
11/02/04
The one thing Spacey couldn't do for Beyond the Sea was grow younger. And that's the 'gotta-shut-your-eyes' flaw that keeps Spacey's Bobby Darin biopic from being a great movie, instead of just a good one.
12/30/04
Top CriticIf you're a Darin and/or a Spacey fan, this film is a must see. It's just that where I'm supposed to enthusiastically applaud, I find myself sitting on my hands.
11/02/04
By the time Spacey and his movie mini-me are soft-shoeing in the finale, you'll wonder if your popcorn has been sprinkled with something stronger than artificial flavoring.
01/11/05
Spacey serves as actor, writer, director and producer -- and probably caterer, key grip and best boy, if we search the credits hard enough -- on this misguided vanity project.
01/03/05
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