Movie Review for Beyond the Sea

Summary: For Bobby Darin, performing was his life. It kept his heart beating. He came alive onstage, even when he was near collapse offstage. From the age of seven, Walden Robert Cassotto--Little Bobby knows the odds are stacked against him. Rheumatic fever has permanently damaged his heart, and he’s not expected to make it to age fifteen. Bobby’s family pour all their energies into caring for him. Bobby’s frail heart may be one truth, but his mother Polly, a former singer, introduces her boy to another wonderful truth: music. Music becomes Bobby’s bargaining chip against time; he’s not only singing, but also playing piano, drums and guitar before he even hits his teens. Music takes him into a world beyond the Bronx, and beyond sickness. It’s a world of effortlessly swinging songs, and couples dancing to the lilt of Bobby’s voice. Bobby has a plan, and no heart ailment will stop him.

                         Reviews of Beyond the Sea
By Carlo Cavagna of AboutFilm.com (8/0)
            The film winds up being more a celebration of Spacey than Darin.

By Mike McGranaghan of Aisle Seat (8/0)
            Never brings Bobby Darin’s life into sharp focus, but at least gives us an appealing dose of show...

By Philip Martin of Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (8/0)
            ...this is a film that might -- like Coppola's One From the Heart -- develop something of a cult ...

By Lori Hoffman of Atlantic City Weekly (8/0)
            '... an intriguing visual style akin to a multi-car pile-up involving All That Jazz, Funny Girl a...

By Marjorie Baumgarten of Austin Chronicle (8/0)
            Much more 'Splish' than 'Splash.'

By Jordan Hiller of Bangitout.com (8/0)
            Mr. Spacey clearly has an impassioned and intense love for this Bobby Darin biopic, and like a pa...

                         Reviews of Beyond the Sea
By Stella Papamichael of BBC (8/0)
            Spacey weaves real-life drama with musical set-pieces to create a vibrant and whimsical portrait.

By Alan Dale of Blogcritics.org (8/0)
            You can't get much more Hollywood than a movie about a performer in which success is synonymous w...

By Emily Blunt of Blunt Review (8/0)
            Beyond the Sea is a beautiful whirlwind musical homage to crooner Bobby Darin's remarkable career...

By Wesley Morris of Boston Globe (8/0)
            Where Jamie Foxx disappears inside his Ray Charles, Spacey never lets you forget you're watching ...

By Roger Ebert of Chicago Sun-Times (8/0)
            Bobby Darin's life provides a less-than-perfect template for a biopic...

By Michael Wilmington of Chicago Tribune (8/0)
            Beyond the Sea doesn't quite have [that swing]. But it's close.

                         Reviews of Beyond the Sea
By Michael Elliott of Christian Spotlight on the Movies (8/0)
            It is not a good sign when the film opens with the characters arguing about how the movie should ...

By Jules Brenner of Cinema Signals (8/0)
            If you're a Darin and/or a Spacey fan, this film is a must see. It's just that where I'm suppose...

By Joshua Tyler of CinemaBlend.com (8/0)
            Embodies everything that is worst about movie musicals

By David Keyes of Cinemaphile.org (7/1)
            This is not a great achievement by any means, but the director's consistent display of enthusiasm...

By Karina Montgomery of Cinerina (8/0)
            The film just doesn’t swing, despite Spacey's clear showmanship.

By Mark Palermo of Coast (Halifax, Nova Scotia) (8/0)
            It brings little to the usual biopic formula of success followed by ego followed by breakdown, be...

                         Reviews of Beyond the Sea
By Jeffrey M. Anderson of Combustible Celluloid (8/0)
            It's a monstrous guilty pleasure for people who want to see a whole movie just like the asparagus...

By Edward Douglas of ComingSoon.net (8/0)
            So self-indulgent and all over the place that it never truly finds its feet.

By Harvey S. Karten of Compuserve (8/0)
            A lovely biopic about a singer who was right up there with Frank Sinatra.

By Matt Brunson of Creative Loafing (8/0)
            Spacey serves as actor, writer, director and producer -- and probably caterer, key grip and best ...

By Philip Wuntch of Dallas Morning News (8/0)
            Ostensibly a love letter to Mr. Darin, it's more a love letter from Mr. Spacey to Mr. Spacey.

By Blake French of E! Online (8/0)
            ...simply a marginally successful experiment for Spacey to test his own abilities as an actor, wh...

                         Reviews of Beyond the Sea
By Dan Lybarger of eFilmCritic.com (8/0)
            Mack the Butter Knife

By Scott Weinberg of eFilmCritic.com (8/0)
            Spacey clearly has a distinct respect and affection for the memory of old-school crooner Bobby Da...

By Emanuel Levy of EmanuelLevy.Com (8/0)
            A train wreck structurally, Beyond the Sea is a vanity project that's more about Spacey the produ...

By Lisa Schwarzbaum of Entertainment Weekly (7/1)
            The film's tortured conceit -- that a peculiarly older-than-reality Darin is making his own autob...

By Eric D. Snider of EricDSnider.com (8/0)
            The film is as smooth as Darin himself, slickly produced and well-paced, and it also happens to b...

By Eugene Novikov of Film Blather (8/0)
            Claims its place in the pantheon of shallow, smug, sycophantic biopic disasters.

                         Reviews of Beyond the Sea
By Walter Chaw of Film Freak Central (8/0)
            It lacks passion and joy, replacing them both with something that smells a lot like mid-life cris...

By Lewis Beale of Film Journal International (8/0)
            A total vanity project, although in this case the vanity is mostly justified.

By Chris Barsanti of Film Threat (8/0)
            Directorial chutzpah is not nearly enough to save this dull and distant vanity project.

By Phil Hall of Film Threat (8/0)
            A pathetic spectacle.

By Blake French of filmcritic.com (8/0)
            A marginally successful experiment

By Brian Orndorf of FilmJerk.com (8/0)
            Spacey’s tinkering is perplexing, and conspires against the real reason any film about Darin shou...

                         Reviews of Beyond the Sea
By Victoria Alexander of FilmsInReview.com (8/0)
            A vainglorious valentine, but either act or direct. Please don't do both.

By Larry Carroll of FilmStew.com (8/0)
            The artist formerly known as Keyser Soze reminds us with every classic high note in the titular s...

By MaryAnn Johanson of Flick Filosopher (8/0)
            [T]akes a lot [of] risks, and if it doesn’t always succeed in pulling them off, it still earns hi...

By Michael H. Price of Fort Worth Business Press (8/0)
            ... pays tribute to the long-gone pop singer Bobby Darin in ways deeper by far than the bland hag...

By Eric Lurio of Greenwich Village Gazette (8/0)
            Not a great film, but decent.

By Ross Anthony of Hollywood Report Card (8/0)
            Serious moments have softened edges, the film rarely feels heavy. Always interesting and entertai...

                         Reviews of Beyond the Sea
By Steve Rhodes of Internet Reviews (8/0)
            Spacey sings the songs himself, capturing Darin's melodies and mannerisms perfectly, which makes ...

By Jane Stevenson of Jam! Movies (8/0)
            A flawed movie featuring an impressive lead performance.

By Scott Foundas of L.A. Weekly (8/0)
            A dazzling and fearless piece of showmanship.

By Robert Roten of Laramie Movie Scope (8/0)
            The musical and dance numbers in the film are excellent. The story is compelling.

By Nick Schager of Lessons of Darkness (8/0)
            Gimmicky recounting of the crooner’s life.

By John Larsen of Light Views (8/0)
            It’s funny, engaging, gorgeous to look at and dishes enough information to give it weight.

                         Reviews of Beyond the Sea
By Prairie Miller of Long Island Press (8/0)
            A two hour shoulder shrugger for those too young to even know who Bobby Darin is, and what all th...

By Mark Dujsik of Mark Reviews Movies (8/0)
            Ultimately works as flattering homage.

By Duane Dudek of Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (8/0)
            It is a bold experiment that collapses under the weight of its own eclecticism. And as a result, ...

By Gabriel Shanks of Mixed Reviews (8/0)
            A vain attempt not only to restore Darin's place in history, but to improve upon it... Colick's u...

By Susan Granger of Modamag.com (8/0)
            Exuberant, ambitious biopic that's engaging and entertaining yet strangely superficial. The razzl...

By Ken Hanke of Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC) (8/0)
            The lack of any real artistic commitment on the part of its subject ultimately raises the questio...

                         Reviews of Beyond the Sea
By Ryan Cracknell of Movie Views (8/0)
            Much like basking in front of your own image, Spacey's Beyond the Sea is a vanity project, albeit...

By Kevin A. Ranson of MovieCrypt.com (8/0)
            This is the anti-blockbuster, the slow-burning film that tries to be as cool as the man it’s abou...

By Michael Dequina of Mr. Brown's Movies (8/0)
            The Very Special Bobby Darin Tribute episode of The Kevin Spacey Variety Hour.

By Michael A. Smith of Nolan's Pop Culture Review (8/0)
            'A film that celebrates a great talent taken away too soon, Beyond the Sea is sure to set your to...

By Frank Swietek of One Guy's Opinion (8/0)
            The problem with a labor of love is that it often turns out to be more laborious than lovely.

By Dennis Schwartz of Ozus' World Movie Reviews (8/0)
            Mack the Knife singer's story never catches fire.

                         Reviews of Beyond the Sea
By Jeanne Aufmuth of Palo Alto Weekly (8/0)
            Falls short in many ways, from its vaudevillian-esque sensibility to the look-at-me-Ma attitude p...

By Jay Antani of Perihelion Journal (8/0)
            Kevin Spacey's dedication is clear, both in his performance as Darin and in his wonderful directi...

By Sean Burns of Philadelphia Weekly (8/0)
            Darin's life is just a jumping-off point for The Kevin Spacey Show, which would probably stink li...

By Jon Popick of Planet Sick-Boy (8/0)
            It’s a nice collection of dated songs, but horribly paced and completely insubstantial as a film.

By James Kendrick of Q Network Film Desk (8/0)
            given the choice, I'll take Spacey's hilarious, spot-on impression of Christopher Walken over Bob...

By Mark R. Leeper of rec.arts.movies.reviews (8/0)
             looks beneath the superficial glamour of Bobby Darin to find . . . not a whole lot that would no...

                         Reviews of Beyond the Sea
By Timothy Knight of Reel.com (8/0)
            The result is a glossy and emotionally unsatisfying film that plays like a series of trite vignet...

By Laura Clifford of Reeling Reviews (8/0)
            a good looking production with an overblown sense of its subject

By Robin Clifford of Reeling Reviews (8/0)
            The music is great and kudos to Spacey for his renditions of Bobby Darin’s many songs.

By Betty Jo Tucker of ReelTalk Movie Reviews (8/0)
            Kevin Spacey captivated me with his terrific singing and dancing in this superb musical biopic.

By Peter Travers of Rolling Stone (8/0)
            Doing his own singing, Spacey is a marvel.

By Peter Travers of Rolling Stone (8/0)
            ...Spacey is a marvel.

                         Reviews of Beyond the Sea
By Stephanie Zacharek of Salon.com (8/0)
            What on earth could Spacey be thinking?

By Larry Ratliff of San Antonio Express-News (8/0)
            When I look at Spacey in this film, I see Kevin Spacey, not Darin. This leaps out even more this ...

By Jean Lowerison of San Diego Metropolitan (8/0)
            A vastly entertaining vehicle that showcases Spacey's talents as a song-and-dance man as much as ...

By Mick LaSalle of San Francisco Chronicle (8/0)
            ...one of the most embarrassing spectacles of 2004.

By William Arnold of Seattle Post-Intelligencer (8/0)
            ...it fails to persuade us that its subject is significant enough to be worth a movie.

By Moira MacDonald of Seattle Times (8/0)
            A movie that gets a few things absolutely right while getting quite a few other things very, very...

                         Reviews of Beyond the Sea
By Rich Cline of Shadows on the Wall (8/0)
            The production design is overdone on several levels... If it weren't such a compelling story we w...

By Keith Uhlich of Slant Magazine (8/0)
            This show-offy biopic of the late, great singer/songwriter Bobby Darin reveals Spacey as a shamel...

By David Edelstein of Slate (4/4)
            A Whitman's Sampler of biopic clichés.

By Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat of Spirituality and Practice (8/0)
            Beyond the Sea is an energetic biopicture on the life and career of the cocky and irrepressible s...

By Nick Rogers of State Journal-Register (Springfield, IL) (8/0)
            Kevin Spacey has made a passionless one-man show about the wrong man. It’s a showcase for the sta...

By Thomas Peyser of Style Weekly (Richmond, VA) (8/0)
            Beyond the Sea is a mishmash that’s interesting only as a document of Spacey’s obsessions.

                         Reviews of Beyond the Sea
By Dustin Putman of TheMovieBoy.com (8/0)
            A biopic that is all shiny surface and no substance, washing over hard details in favor of a lot ...

By Scott Nash of Three Movie Buffs (8/0)
            Spacey writes, directs, acts, produces, and sings. Is there anything he can't do? Apparently no...

By Tony Medley of tonymedley.com (8/0)
            I wish that it had used Bobby Darin’s voice, that someone more appropriate had been cast as Sandr...

By Audrey Rock-Richardson of Tooele Transcript-Bulletin (Utah) (8/0)
            An unbalanced and overly-complimentary look at Bobby Darin.

By Ethan Alter of TV Guide's Movie Guide (8/0)
            Spacey's devotion to Darin may have blinded him to the bigger picture.

By Urban Cinefile Critics of Urban Cinefile (8/0)
            Primarily a showcase for the considerable talents of Kevin Spacey [who] is worth the price of a t...

                         Reviews of Beyond the Sea
By Mike Clark of USA Today (8/0)
            ...Spacey's brazen casting isn't as beyond the pale as it ought to be. In fact, it's hard to imag...

By Desson Thomson of Washington Post (8/0)
            This vainglorious biopic about Bobby Darin is really about what the '60s pop singer and actor mea...

By John Beifuss of Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN) (3/5) Login Required (Login Required)
            Not so much a biopic as a performance art project...

By Stephen Holden of New York Times (3/5) Login Required (Login Required)
            The movie's a mess...

By Eleanor Ringel Gillespie of Atlanta Journal-Constitution (4/4) No reference
            It spins itself into some spangled netherworld where Spacey's ego and his eagerness to immortaliz...

By Christopher Smith of Bangor Daily News (Maine) (7/1) No reference
            A showy, energetic little soap opera whose best moments come when Spacey plays it straight.

                         Reviews of Beyond the Sea
By Kevin Courrier of Boxoffice Magazine (3/5) No reference
            Although the picture is aggressively ambitious, there isn't an ounce of common sense anywhere in ...

By Michael Wilmington of Chicago Tribune (3/5) No reference
            There are a lot of things to admire...

By David Sterritt of Christian Science Monitor (4/4) No reference
            Spacey is almost as swinging as Darin was, but his filmmaking leans toward tried-and-true formula...

By Scott Von Doviak of culturevulture.net (3/5) No reference
            It’s going to be very difficult for Spacey to reclaim his credibility after this fiasco.

By Jeffrey Bruner of Des Moines Register (4/4) No reference
            By the time Spacey and his movie mini-me are soft-shoeing in the finale, you'll wonder if your po...

By Jeff Vice of Deseret News, Salt Lake City (7/1) No reference
            Seems more intent on getting the musical numbers right than telling the story.

                         Reviews of Beyond the Sea
By Chuck O'Leary of Fantastica Daily (4/4) No reference
            For those who aren't Darin aficionados, the reason to see this biopic is another outstanding perf...

By James Sanford of Kalamazoo Gazette (7/1) No reference
            holds nothing back. When it's time for this admittedly offbeat biography to swing, the exuberance...

By Robert W. Butler of Kansas City Star (3/5) No reference
            In dramatic terms Beyond the Sea never rises above the level of a halfway decent made-for-TV film...

By Glenn Whipp of Los Angeles Daily News (3/5) No reference
            A homogenized look at Darin's complicated life that is designed, like most of Spacey's recent fil...

By Jeff Strickler of Minneapolis Star Tribune (4/4) No reference
            [Spacey is] someone who is capable of producing, writing, directing, starring and doing his own s...

By James Rocchi of Netflix (4/4) No reference
            Kevin Spacey's big-screen showbiz biography of Bobby Darin soars when it's glam, but bores when i...

                         Reviews of Beyond the Sea
By Lou Lumenick of New York Post (3/5) No reference
            ...seems to be telling us a lot more about its star and director, Kevin Spacey, than its ostensib...

By Stephen Whitty of Newark Star-Ledger (3/5) No reference
            If there is a point, Spacey never makes it clear, nor manages to fully illuminate the people in D...

By Shawn Levy of Oregonian (3/5) No reference
            Spacey's wretched, agonizing, tone-deaf version of the Darin story.

By Roger Moore of Orlando Sentinel (3/5) No reference
            Spacey may worship at the altar of Darin, but the real Bobby was beyond him.

By Steve Schneider of Orlando Weekly (3/5) No reference
            The triumphs and tragedies of Darin's life are undercut by a playful, carny-barking tone that out...

By Gary Thompson of Philadelphia Daily News (3/5) No reference
            In Beyond the Sea Kevin Spacey manages to achieve his life's ambition of portraying Bobby Darin, ...

                         Reviews of Beyond the Sea
By Joe Baltake of Sacramento Bee (7/1) No reference
            You have to hand it to Spacey. He gets by on sheer willfulness. He believes so much in his cockey...

By David Elliott of San Diego Union-Tribune (4/4) No reference
            One of the most genuine tributes ever offered by one artist to another.

By Sean Piccoli of South Florida Sun-Sentinel (3/5) No reference
            Spacey's singing turns out to be the most plausible and appealing element of Beyond the Sea. It's...

By Josh Larsen of Sun Publications (Chicago, IL) (3/5) No reference
            ...one of those labors of love that reminds you love is blind.

By Jeffrey Chen of Window to the Movies (4/4) No reference
            The movie is about Bobby Darin, but we don't learn a thing about him other than he was arrogant. ...

By Lawrence Toppman of Charlotte Observer (7/1) Not Reachable
            Proves Spacey knows Darin's ambitions, egotism, controlling nature, swinging performance style, f...

                         Reviews of Beyond the Sea
By Howard Cohen of Miami Herald (7/1) Not Reachable
            Watching Kevin Spacey's hilariously inept recreation of Bobby Darin's life in Beyond the Sea brin...

By James Berardinelli of ReelViews (4/4) Not Reachable
            Despite the choppy narrative and inappropriate casting of Spacey, Beyond the Sea managed to k...

By Chris Hewitt (St. Paul) of St. Paul Pioneer Press (4/4) Not Reachable
            A movie so inventive and varied in its badness that it's almost good.

By Cherryl Dawson and Leigh Ann Palone of TheMovieChicks.com (7/1) Not Reachable
            The performances are all very strong, but needy characters are hard to really connect with - it's...

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Quality International
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