Phonearl Good start, but then it gets ruined

Nessieldwi Very interesting film. Was caught on the premise when seeing the trailer but unsure as to what the outcome would be for the showing. As it turns out, it was a very good film.

Rio Hayward All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Skyler Great movie. Not sure what people expected but I found it highly entertaining.

Steve Pulaski Kevin Spacey's heart is always in the right place in Beyond the Sea being both behind the camera and in front of it, profiling the life of the singer Bobby Darin. However, it is Spacey Luke Colick's screenplay where the heart becomes a bit too consumed with comedic instances and biopic clichés rather than illustrating the believable or, better yet, the truth. The film is a crowdpleasing piece of entertainment all around, though, with the ability to mesmerize, delight, encourage singing, and maybe even move the audience to cut loose. Rarely do biopics themselves possess the same traits as the person they are profiling.Bobby Darin always seems to find himself a bit lost in the shuffle when one regards the classic music of the fifties and sixties, sandwiched between the classic rock band and the swooning country singers of the time. However, Darin did enjoy a wide variety of success from movie hits to, of course, several albums and singles before he died at a young thirty-seven years old. The film profiles everything, from his troubled childhood where a vicious illness left him bed-ridden with little optimism for a more stable life, to his more adult, anti-war persona he adopted during the Vietnam was. Also chronicled are numerous moments of arrogance on Darin's part, a rocky marriage with actress Sandra Dee (Kate Bosworth), and many tremendous singing performances by Spacey himself.Spacey embodies Darin, showing him as both a constantly-anxious, creative singer and an often selfish man trying to assume all possible roles in his life in a micromanaging fashion. It's unsurprising to note how well Spacey captures the range of Darin's character with great fluidity and fun but sort of surprising at how marvelous and enchanting Spacey's singing voice is. Easily the hardest part for actors when assuming the role of a classic singer is trying to at least come close to reaching the power his singing-voice had. Joaquin Phoenix did it with Johnny Cash in Walk the Line and Jamie Foxx did it with Ray Charles in Ray (both released in 2004, the same year as Beyond the Sea). And now, Spacey does it with Darin, in a performance more memorable than many instances in the film.Spacey's best singing scene comes late in the film, after Darin has adopted the anti-war attitude in the wake of Vietnam, and sings "Simple Song of Freedom" to a packed house. The song is poetic as it illustrates popular opinion during the Vietnam war, with Spacey delivering hard-hitting lines like, "let it fill the air, tell the people everywhere - we the people here don't want a war." Of course, Darin's other hits are covered throughout the film, such as "Splish Splash" and "That's All," but Spacey truly embodies "Simple Song of Freedom" with vocal precision and the power to engross even the most hardened listener.One of the few things that slow down Beyond the Sea is its intrusive comedy during scenes where it would've been better if Spacey and Colick's script allowed for simply drama to take over. Consider the scene where Bobby has just lost the Oscar at the Academy Awards and is fiercely screaming at Sandra, his long-suffering wife. The scene sort of evolves from a depressing and verbally violent scene to a slightly comedic scene based on Spacey's over-the-top approach to the material at hand. In addition, it's kind of disheartening to see another biopic that feels the need to tack on cheesy and plastic framework for its story by having a young kid challenging Bobby Darin's posse at the beginning of the film that he indeed knows Darin better than all of them.Beyond the Sea still serves as solid biopic fare solely because it does respect to its figure and features some of the most delightful singing this side of musical biographies as well. Spacey and the entire cast work well as a whole, and some anthems are undeniably powerful. There are several leagues when it comes to biopics, from Walk the Line to The Iron Lady and, in this case, Beyond the Sea makes up a league closer to the first-mentioned film.Starring: Kevin Spacey, Kate Bosworth, Bob Hoskins, and John Goodman. Directed by: Kevin Spacey.

kubliakhan This is a fantastic movie with terrific music. Kevin Spacey was simply amazing and has a great voice. He may have been ten years too old to play Darin, but he's so much fun to watch, it doesn't matter. His performance was certainly Oscar worthy. Kate Bosworth is good too and stunningly beautiful. If you like the big band Sinatra sound, you'll love this film. I wish I had seen it when it came out, but I just didn't think I'd be interested in Bobby Darin. I was wrong. He was a talented song writer and fantastic singer who died (of natural causes) much, much too young. Now I've got to go out and buy a CD of Darin's greatest hits (and maybe one of Kevin Spacey's as well.)

PippinInOz ....and as you can see by the low 2 out of 10, well, it was not at all my 'bag'.However, there is clearly an audience for this kind of post modern musical biopic. Some of you, like me, are not this audience - so if this is the case: Avoid.I genuinely admire Kevin Spacey, but for me this screams: 'Vanity Project'.What you get:Clever dick post modern stuff. The opening scene is Kevin Spacey playing Bobby Darin on stage, who is playing himself in a film biopic. Yep. One of those.Brenda Blethyn - overacting to blazes doing her Noo Joiysee shtick. Bob Hoskins, an actor I genuinely love, again being made to over act in an American film. Long musical numbers - Kevin minces it up with the best of them. Bless 'im. He is clearly enjoying himself immensely. Unfortunately, I really REALLY did not enjoy myself watching him enjoying himself. You will press the fast forward button - A LOT.I know it is deliberate (the 'calling attention to it's own artifice' of post modernity), but the entire 'stagey' stuff just leaves me colder than a day walking down Southend Pier in February.If this is your thing - watch and enjoy. Clearly, judging by the reviews here, a lot of people DO like this stuff.If it isn't - Move away Ladies and Gentlemen, ain't nothing to see here. Quite awful actually.

Jerome Barathieu I did not Bobby Darin at all before the film and I have to confess I did not know what I was about to watch. I really enjoyed this film because I think Kevin Spacey is really playing very well (from what I have read many people complain about his age but I am not really sure it is relevant I prefer an "old" actor playing a part very well more than an actor fitting perfectly the age and not capable of doing something proper). The real problem with this film is that is not really original but apart from that I really loved it and was captivated by the story and sad at the time and I think it was the purpose of the film in the first place. I also want to discover this singer now and it was also a purpose of the film.The rest of the cast gets the job done but nothing more but the magic comes from the great Kevin Spacey who proves he is capable of playing amazingly well.I was at first tempted by an 8 but the 6.6 average mark is a shame for this film I advise everyone to watch.