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Movie Overview
Cast
• Kevin Spacey
• Kate Bosworth
• Brenda Blethyn
Director
• Kevin Spacey
MPAA Rating
PG-13 - some strong language and a scene of sensuality
Beyond the Sea (2004)

REVIEWS
NEWS
INTERVIEWS OTHER
OFCS Rating: 45% Rotten
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"You can't get much more Hollywood than a movie about a performer in which success is synonymous with quality."  Blogcritics.org  Alan Dale

"Kevin Spacey captivated me with his terrific singing and dancing in this superb musical biopic."  ReelTalk Movie Reviews  Betty Jo Tucker

3.5/5
"A marginally successful experiment"  Filmcritic.com  Blake French

C
"Spacey’s tinkering is perplexing, and conspires against the real reason any film about Darin should be made: to showcase Darin’s sublime natural abilities."  FilmJerk.com  Brian Orndorf

C
"The film winds up being more a celebration of Spacey than Darin."  AboutFilm.com  Carlo Cavagna

1.5/5
"Directorial chutzpah is not nearly enough to save this dull and distant vanity project."  Film Threat  Chris Barsanti

2/5
"Mack the Butter Knife"  eFilmCritic.com  Dan Lybarger

3/4
"This is not a great achievement by any means, but the director's consistent display of enthusiasm allows it to stay afloat long enough to get its point across."  Cinemaphile.org  David Keyes

C
"Mack the Knife singer's story never catches fire."  Ozus' World Movie Reviews  Dennis Schwartz

2/4
"A biopic that is all shiny surface and no substance, washing over hard details in favor of a lot of stage performances that come off surprisingly flat."  TheMovieBoy.com  Dustin Putman

B+
"The film is as smooth as Darin himself, slickly produced and well-paced, and it also happens to be stuffed with some fantastic music."  EricDSnider.com  Eric D. Snider

C-
"Claims its place in the pantheon of shallow, smug, sycophantic biopic disasters."  Film Blather  Eugene Novikov

C
"The problem with a labor of love is that it often turns out to be more laborious than lovely."  One Guy's Opinion  Frank Swietek

3/5
"Beyond the Sea is an energetic biopicture on the life and career of the cocky and irrepressible singer Bobby Darin."  Spirituality and Practice  Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat

C+
"A vain attempt not only to restore Darin's place in history, but to improve upon it... Colick's underdeveloped screenplay has trouble placing Darin's life onto a heroic scale."  Mixed Reviews  Gabriel Shanks

2/4
"Great music and a few good scenes do not a movie make."  ReelViews  James Berardinelli

2/4
"given the choice, I'll take Spacey's hilarious, spot-on impression of Christopher Walken over Bobby Darin any day"  Q Network Film Desk  James Kendrick

3/5
"Kevin Spacey's big-screen showbiz biography of Bobby Darin soars when it's glam, but bores when it's glum."  Netflix  James Rocchi

3/4
"Kevin Spacey's dedication is clear, both in his performance as Darin and in his wonderful direction"  Perihelion Journal  Jay Antani

2/4
"Falls short in many ways, from its vaudevillian-esque sensibility to the look-at-me-Ma attitude pervading every frame."  Palo Alto Weekly  Jeanne Aufmuth

6/10
"The movie is about Bobby Darin, but we don't learn a thing about him other than he was arrogant. So, actually, the movie's about Kevin Spacey."  Window to the Movies  Jeffrey Chen

"It’s funny, engaging, gorgeous to look at and dishes enough information to give it weight."  Light Views  John Larsen

5/10
"It’s a nice collection of dated songs, but horribly paced and completely insubstantial as a film."  Planet Sick-Boy  Jon Popick

.5
"Mr. Spacey clearly has an impassioned and intense love for this Bobby Darin biopic, and like a parent, he will be devastated by its sure failure"  Bangitout.com  Jordan Hiller

3/5
"The film just doesn’t swing, despite Spacey's clear showmanship."  Cinerina  Karina Montgomery

1/4
"This show-offy biopic of the late, great singer/songwriter Bobby Darin reveals Spacey as a shameless, slogan-reliant historical reductionist."  Slant Magazine  Keith Uhlich

3.0/4.0
"This is the anti-blockbuster, the slow-burning film that tries to be as cool as the man it’s about..."  MovieCrypt.com  Kevin A. Ranson

B-
"The artist formerly known as Keyser Soze reminds us with every classic high note in the titular song that we’re listening to a facsimile with a weaker range."  FilmStew.com  Larry Carroll

B-
"a good looking production with an overblown sense of its subject"  Reeling Reviews  Laura Clifford

3/4
"Ultimately works as flattering homage."  Mark Reviews Movies  Mark Dujsik

5/10
" looks beneath the superficial glamour of Bobby Darin to find . . . not a whole lot that would not have been in the fan magazines"  rec.arts.movies.reviews  Mark R. Leeper

"[T]akes a lot [of] risks, and if it doesn’t always succeed in pulling them off, it still earns high marks for experimenting with the standard biopic format."  Flick Filosopher  MaryAnn Johanson

1.5/4
"The Very Special Bobby Darin Tribute episode of The Kevin Spacey Variety Hour."  Mr. Brown's Movies  Michael Dequina

3/4
"Never brings Bobby Darin’s life into sharp focus, but at least gives us an appealing dose of show-biz razzle dazzle"  Aisle Seat  Mike McGranaghan

D
"Gimmicky recounting of the crooner’s life."  Lessons of Darkness  Nick Schager

0.5/5
"A pathetic spectacle."  Film Threat  Phil Hall

3.5/5
"The production design is overdone on several levels... If it weren't such a compelling story we wouldn't stick with it."  Shadows on the Wall  Rich Cline

B
"The musical and dance numbers in the film are excellent. The story is compelling."  Laramie Movie Scope  Robert Roten

B
"The music is great and kudos to Spacey for his renditions of Bobby Darin’s many songs."  Reeling Reviews  Robin Clifford

"Much like basking in front of your own image, Spacey's Beyond the Sea is a vanity project, albeit one with some interesting layers surrounding it."  Movie Views  Ryan Cracknell

4/5
"Spacey clearly has a distinct respect and affection for the memory of old-school crooner Bobby Darin, and that emotion virtually pours from the screen in buckets."  eFilmCritic.com  Scott Weinberg

"What on earth could Spacey be thinking?"  Salon.com  Stephanie Zacharek

6/10
"Exuberant, ambitious biopic that's engaging and entertaining yet strangely superficial. The razzle-dazzle fizzles out."  Modamag.com  Susan Granger

2/4
"The result is a glossy and emotionally unsatisfying film that plays like a series of trite vignettes strung together by adequately staged and performed musical numbers. And that's the name of that tune."  Reel.com  Timothy Knight

1/4
"It lacks passion and joy, replacing them both with something that smells a lot like mid-life crisis."  Film Freak Central  Walter Chaw

"Click here to see review"  Wolf Entertainment Guide  William Wolf

6/10
Read review  JoBlo's Movie Emporium  JoBlo

Read review  PopMatters  Cynthia Fuchs
OFCS Rating: 45% Rotten
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