Confident swagger, egoistic charisma and a competent singing voice qualifies Kevin Spacey's re-creation of 1950s Rock idol Bobby Darin as show-stopping transformation well beyond the typical bio-drama impersonation. Spacey has been fascinated with Darin since childhood; he's worked on the Darin bio-picture,
Beyond the Sea, for years. But his spiritual pizzazz and charismatic gusto make this a rousing, edgy, out-of-the-box musical instead of an overblown vanity project.
In the film's highlight scene, appropriated lovingly from Martin Scorsese's Goodfellas, Darin makes his way through the Copacabana Club kitchen and onto the famous Manhattan club's stage. Midway into his song, Darin's debut Copacabana performance twists into a movie-within-a movie moment as the cameras pull back to expose the film's soundstage location.
Kate Bosworth, best known as the star of a surfer girl drama, Blue Crush, flashes perfect white teeth and fluttering eyelashes as Darin's celebrity wife, all-American actress Sandra Dee. Still, Bosworth's is a physical performance with the sole purpose of boosting the boisterous Spacey.
Sentimental goo frequently stops a Spacey performance dead in its tracks, and the Darin/Dee relationship drama often swerves into typical soap-opera territory. Whenever Beyond the Sea looks to lose focus, Spacey's good-fella charms and gusto make everything right again. (Steve Ramos) Beyond the Sea grade: B
