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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
(1 - 46) of 46
OFCS Rating: 48% 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
B-
"More than 10-years in the making, the movie is a labor of love from Kevin Spacey, and Kate Bosworth is superb as Darin's charming wife Sandra Dee."
ColeSmithey.com
Cole Smithey
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."
DustinPutman.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"
Cinema Writer
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
.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
."
TheMovieReport.com
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
6/10
"Exuberant, ambitious biopic that's engaging and entertaining yet strangely superficial. The razzle-dazzle fizzles out."
Modamag.com
Susan Granger
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
Read review
Cinema Crazed
Felix Vasquez Jr.
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OFCS Rating: 48% Rotten
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