I watched “Beyond the Sea” overnight – the Bobby Darin story written and directed by and starring Kevin Spacey. A little diversion from the current pressure at work.
It was quite an enjoyable movie, without really being outstanding. I was looking forward to it, since Spacey is one of my absolute all-time favorite actors (see “The Shipping News” and especially “K-PAX”). He did a pretty good job here, but the story itself was the real attraction. The main dramatic elements were (i) Darin’s sometimes strained relationship with his wife (actress Sandra Dee) and the struggle to balance his career with her’s and with the needs of his family, (ii) an unexpected discovery about his parentage (that I won’t disclose here, since it would spoil the surprise for anyone who wants to watch for themselves) and (iii) his struggle to integrate his social and political sensibilities into his stage presentation.
John Goodman played Darin’s manager, and as usual he was great. Bob Hoskin also had a fairly significant role. Having now also heard him speaking with his natural English accent in the on-disc special feature, I have a greater appreciation for his talent in playing an American.