Rating: PG13
Genre:
Drama
Theatrical Release: 12/17/2004(USA
Release Date: 06/07/2005
SubTitles: Espanol
Dubbed: English
Sound: DD5.1/DDS2.0
Run Time: 118 Minutes
Flags: Adult Situations, Profanity, Sexual Situations
Distributor/Studio: Lions Gate
Kevin Spacey serves as both director and star for this
biopic based on the life and career of legendary entertainer
Bobby Darin, which moves back and forth between his childhood and adult selves to tell the tale of his remarkable life. Born
Bobby Cassotto and raised in the Bronx, young
Bobby (played as a child by
William Ullrich) was raised by his mother,
Polly (
Brenda Blethyn), his brother-in-law,
Charlie (
Bob Hoskins), and his sister,
Nina (
Caroline Aaron). At the age of 15,
Bobby contracted a severe case of rheumatic fever, which was expected to take his life; while it left him with a weak heart,
Bobby beat the odds and survived. Buoyed by a love of music passed along by his mother,
Bobby learned to play several instruments and began singing as he recovered. Displaying a confidence and drive which stopped just short of arrogance, he adopted the stage name
Bobby Darin and set his sights on becoming a star. After a string of hits as a
rock & roll singer,
Darin (played as an adult by
Kevin Spacey) takes another gamble, and with the help of manager
Steve Blauner (
John Goodman) he reinvents himself as a supper-club vocalist in the manner of
Frank Sinatra. All the more remarkably, he succeeds, and his swinging version of
"Mack the Knife" tops the charts. Now a major singing star,
Darin decides to take up acting; on the set of his first movie, he woos his female co-star
Sandra Dee (
Kate Bosworth), and despite the stern objections of her mother (
Greta Scacchi),
Bobby and
Sandra wed. But after a string of successful movies for
Dee and hit records and an Oscar nomination for
Darin, the shifting tastes of the 1960s throw their careers off-track.
Bobby cautiously embraces the new sounds of the day, but his old fans don't want to hear him cover
Bob Dylan or
the Rolling Stones, while the younger audience isn't interested in his new sound, leaving
Darin in a difficult place to make his way back to stardom.
Kevin Spacey did his own singing for
Beyond the Sea, recreating
Bobby Darin's vocal style with uncanny accuracy.
~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
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