 Beyond the Sea: In anticipation of this Friday's release of the Bobby Darin biopic, Beyond the Sea, starring Kevin Spacey, Kate Bosworth, John Goodman and Bob Hoskins, we're giving away some spectacular prize packs from the film!
Lucky MovieWeb readers will recieve movie soundtracks (with Kevin Spacey singing 18 Bobby Darin songs), matchbooks, bubble bath, mini record coasters and cocktail napkins!
 ro enter the contest today!
Making music is more to me than a pleasure, ’cause me and music we go together like notes in a measure. As long as I’m singing, then the world’s all right and everything’s swingin’ long as I’m singing my song.
-- “As Long As I’m Singing,” Bobby Darin
For BOBBY DARIN (Kevin Spacey), performing was his life. It kept his heart beating. He came alive onstage, even when he was near collapse offstage. In BEYOND THE SEA, Bobby tells us his own story, in his last great performance.
From the age of seven, Walden Robert Cassotto -- Little BOBBY (William Ullrich) -- knows the odds are stacked against him. Rheumatic fever has permanently damaged his heart, and he’s not expected to make it to age fifteen. Bobby’s family -- his mother POLLY (Brenda Blethyn), his older sister NINA (Caroline Aaron) and Nina’s husband CHARLIE (Bob Hoskins) -- pour all their energies into caring for him. Bobby’s frail heart may be one truth, but Polly, a former singer, introduces her boy to another wonderful truth: music. Music becomes Bobby’s bargaining chip against time; he’s not only singing, but also playing piano, drums and guitar before he even hits his teens. Music takes him into a world beyond the Bronx, and beyond sickness. It’s a world of effortlessly swinging songs, and couples dancing to the lilt of Bobby’s voice. Bobby has a plan, and no heart ailment will stop him.
By 20, Bobby is working the nightclub circuit, accompanied by a protective team that includes Charlie, Bobby’s best friend and manager STEVE BLAUNER (John Goodman) and musical director DICK BEHRKE (Peter Cincotti). Audiences don’t always respond, but rejection only strengthens Bobby, making him even cockier and more confident. He signs a record deal, but his first handful of singles flop. With his career on the line, Bobby writes a song in 20 minutes and records it. “Splish Splash” is a sensation, and Bobby Darin becomes America’s newest teen idol.
But Bobby is not about to limit himself to one style of music, nor is he content to make records strictly for teenagers. Confident of his ability to turn out hits, he insists on recording an album of standards. The gamble pays off, and “Mack the Knife” makes Bobby the star he’s dreamed of becoming. It’s now time for the next challenge: the movies.
Bobby leaves for Italy to film a lead role in COME SEPTEMBER, opposite the hugely popular movie star SANDRA DEE (Kate Bosworth). Immediately smitten, Bobby marshals his considerable charms to woo the innocent young actress, who is kept on a tight leash by her ambitious mother MARY (Greta Scacchi). Despite Mary’s objections, Bobby and Sandy marry and move into a showcase house in Beverly Hills. Bobby continues to make hit records, and headlines New York’s legendary Copacabana, achieving the dream that he and Polly cherished most. In 1964, his movie career reaches a new peak when he is nominated for an Academy Award for CAPTAIN NEWMAN, M.D.
To the world, Bobby and Sandy look like Hollywood’s fairytale couple. But Sandy’s career is floundering, and Bobby’s relentless schedule of filming, recording and touring puts a strain on the relationship. His dogged pursuit of fame and popularity isolates him from the very people who love him and believe in him most.
Confused and directionless, Bobby leaves Sandy in the late 1960s and looks for new meaning in his life by becoming politically active and leaving behind the Las Vegas glitz for anti-war protest songs and hippie hairstyles. But the new ‘Bob Darin’ is roundly rejected by fans expecting a polished nightclub entertainer. In the end, with his childhood illness finally catching up with him, he must look to his friends, family and extraordinary talent to quell his demons and return to the stage to accept who he is and what his life has meant.
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