Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
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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 his own story. At age seven, Bobby gets rheumatic fever that damages his heart forever. The doctor tells his mother POLLY (Brenda Blethyn) he¹ll be lucky to live to the age of fifteen. Polly and Bobby¹s older sister NINA (Caroline Aaron) take care of him, along with Nina¹s husband CHARLIE (Bob Hoskins). Modern medicine and determination keep him alive, his heart¹s still ticking, and by 20, with the help of his best friend turned manager Steve Blauner (John Goodman) and musical director Dick Behrke (Peter Cincotti) he¹s working his way up, from tacky clubs to performing in Vegas, finally scoring a hit with ŒSplish Splash¹. But Bobby wants more. As he tells Life Magazine, he wants to be a legend by 25. MACK THE KNIFE makes him the star he¹s dreamed of becoming but for him this is only the beginning. The hits keep coming and his life keeps evolving, including an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor in CAPTAIN NEWMAN MD. Never satisfied with success, Bobby continues to reinvent himself and moves from rock and roll into pop, gospel, country & western and folk music. By the end of his brief 14-year career Bobby Darin he¹s had more hits in more genres of music than any recording artist except Elvis Presley and Ray Charles. When he kicks off his acting career, he meets movie star SANDRA DEE (Kate Bosworth) while filming COME SEPTEMBER in Italy. He falls for her, but has to jump through hoops to get around MARY (Greta Scacchi), Sandy¹s possessive and overbearing mother. Despite her protests Bobby and Sandy get married and seem like the perfect Hollywood fairytale couple. But the conflict of her acting career and his touring puts a strain on the relationship. His dogged pursuit of fame and fortune isolates him from the very people who love him and believe in him. His master plan for ŒBobby Darin the star¹ doesn¹t leave much room for ŒBobby Darin the man¹. 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 ŒBob Darin¹ doesn¹t work for the fans. 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. Bobby Darin remains one of the great entertainers of all time with a rags to riches story unknown. This film will introduce his remarkable abilities to a new generation.
