Beyond the Sea (2004)

Academy Award winner Kevin Spacey does it all in this swinging biopic: he directs, he writes, he produces, he stars, and he even sings in his own voice. He plays legendary crooner Bobby Darin, whose 1950s hits included "Splish Splash" and "Mack the Knife." Left with a bad heart after a childhood fever, Darin nonetheless seeks out the high-pressure world of stardom, performing every number like his life depended on it. Along the way up the ladder, he falls for virginal Hollywood starlet Sandra Dee (Kate Bosworth) but their problems are many, including Dee's domineering stage mom (Greta Sacchi) and the constant dem...
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ands of their respective careers. Through it all Darin keeps reinventing himself, going from Elvis-style rocker to Vegas crooner, and even becoming a long-haired '60s folkie. Death dogs his heels every step of the way, but it only serves to fuel Darin's artistic fire, and Spacey uses this dramatic velocity to catapult his obviously inspired performance. Spacey saw something in the Darin life story with which he deeply identified, because he plays the role with gusto. The cabaret scenes have the sizzle of a moon-bound rocket--the deconstructive plot device being that Darin is making this film from the afterlife, or "beyond the sea." Supporting cast members complete the equation: Bob Hoskins and Brenda Blethyn are the parents, John Goodman is the manager, and jazz crooner Peter Cincotti is Darin's visionary musical director.
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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 th...
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e 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.
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Voor Bobby Darin was het leven één groot optreden. Het was wat hem in leven hield, ook al voelde hij zich naast het podium nog zo slecht. Vanaf zijn zevende maakte de kleine Walden Robert Cassotto zich klaar voor een leven op het podium - hoewel hij zich realiseerde dat de kans dat hij zou slagen miniem was. Want Bobby zou nooit ouder worden dan 15 jaar door een zeldzame hartafwijking. Maar met hulp van zijn liefdevolle familie en zijn moeder, die hem kennis laat maken met muziek, weet kleine Bobby tot Bobby Darin uit te groeien, één van de grootste entertainers uit de Amerikaanse muziekgeschiedenis.

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