Spacey gives icon the idol treatment

PEGGY ROGERS

Kevin Spacey’s newest movie, “Beyond the Sea,” is an ambitious

tribute to his childhood idol, Bobby Darin. Part musical, part

nightclub act and part dream, the film covers nearly three decades of

the multi-talented singer’s life.

For years, Spacey made it public knowledge that he wanted to play

the part of Darin in a movie. The actor made his dream come true by

co-writing, co-producing and directing “Beyond The Sea.” Although the

quasi-biographical film is about Darin, it’s has as much to do with

Spacey, which both adds to and detracts from the film.

“Beyond The Sea” opens on Darin’s upbringing, which gave him the

dream and talent to pursue a successful career in music. His

childhood is a central factor throughout the singer’s life and is

revisited throughout the course of the movie. The flashbacks

introduce a dream-like quality to the story with the adult Darin

meeting with, and talking to, his younger self.

The flashbacks are a creative way to remind the audience that

Darin’s upbringing deeply affected all his life. However, the

fictional trips to the past have a way of stopping the story’s

natural forward progression.

There are musical numbers and nightclub performances spread

throughout the film that also interrupt the natural flow of the

story. For example, the segments when a 20-something Darin sets out

to become famous, as well as his courtship of Sandra Dee, involve the

cast of characters breaking into song and dance. The effect is like

switching movie theaters between a musical and a drama.

The musical numbers serve to showcase Spacey’s talents more than

Darin’s. The actor does sing and dance very well. Rather than lip

sync, Spacey performs all of Darin’s hit songs, including “Mack The

Knife,” “Splish Splash” and “Beyond The Sea.”

As talented as Spacey is, the effect is similar to watching an

Elvis impersonator perform. After a while, you want to see or hear

the actual person’s voice. The nightclub performances that appear in

the film, while entertaining, become repetitive quickly because they

all have an identical quality to them -- Darin standing in front of a

microphone, wearing a tux and singing to the audience.

Toward the end of the film, however, the performances become fresh

again after Darin has to reinvent himself, his wardrobe and his act

to adapt to changing times.

Darin’s life is all about performing live in front of people and

“Beyond the Sea” stays true to that aspect. Viewers get a sense that

he was really living only when he was on stage.

The movie also delves into his successful, but short-lived

award-winning movie career. Ultimately, acting never brought the same

joy to Darin as music did, although it did introduce him to the love

of his life and future wife, Sandra Dee. The ups and downs of their

relationship are covered, albeit briefly, but there is the strong

sense from the movie that they were deeply in love with each other.

Spacey’s adoration and deep respect for Darin is evident every

moment of his performance. And a brave performance at that. Spacey is

in his 40s, and playing a mid-20s Darin requires a suspension of

disbelief by the audience. Even though all the other characters

undergo changes in make-up to distinguish between their younger and

older selves, Spacey doesn’t, beyond changing hairpieces.

At times, the effect is one of pretending instead of acting, as

when watching the much older Spacey belt out “Splish Splash,”

released when Darin was in his 20s, with teenage girls screaming and

fawning at his feet. The scene stretches the audience’s imagination

in a way that would not have been necessary if Spacey could have made

this film at least 10 years earlier.

“Beyond the Sea” is half a movie and half a tribute from an

adoring fan that reveals the joys and disappoints of an extremely

talented performer.

* PEGGY J. ROGERS, 40, produces commercial videos and

documentaries.

‘Elektra’ caught between two realities

The surprising problem with a lot of comic book movies is that the

stories actually have less substance and character development than

their source material. The newest Marvel comic book movie, “Elektra,”

acts like it wants to avoid this trap, but it isn’t quite sure.

It wants to show us a superhero with human vulnerabilities, but it

also wants to be a mindless action thriller that substitutes special

effects for real drama. The final result is a forgettable movie that

never really knows where it is going.

The main story in “Elektra” follows the title character (Jennifer

Garner) as she pursues her job as a paid assassin. Elektra died at

the end of the movie “Daredevil,” but has been brought back from the

dead to do a sequel. We’re never really given a lot of details about

why the people she kills are bad; we just assume they are bad because

they wear black and she kills them.

Elektra’s life changes when she’s asked to kill a man and his

daughter (Goran Visnjic of TV’s “ER,” and Kirsten Prout). As a young

girl, Elektra was traumatized when she saw her mother’s murder. As an

adult, she’s trying to heal her wounded inner child by working as a

contract killer, but she sees her own pain in eyes of the little girl

and that sends her world into a tailspin. She decides she can’t kill

the girl or her father, so she opts to protect them instead. This

means she has to fight a host of assassins who say inane things like,

“Stop! This time we finish it!”

Anytime you hear a character in a movie say, “This time we finish

it,” take that as a cue to leave the theater as quickly as possible.

If it weren’t for Garner’s ample charisma, “Elektra” would have

absolutely nothing going for it. What’s interesting is that “Elektra”

seems to shy away from making Garner’s sexy fetish outfit the focus

of the movie. Contrary to the previews, she doesn’t spend the entire

movie running around in her bright red lingerie.

Instead, the movie looks deep into Garner’s eyes as she tries to

forgive herself for being a helpless little girl who allowed her

mother to die. I really like how the story shows the emotional

conflict of Garner feeling like a terrified little girl in the body

of an adult woman. It’s just too bad that the main story about

defending the girl and her father isn’t written as well as the

back-story.

Another problem is that the action sequences are often poorly

executed. I like the character named Tattoo, and the way various

creatures leap out from his body and come to life. It’s just too bad

the movie tells me absolutely nothing about this guy or the rest of

the CGI-animated villains. We know that they are evil, but we don’t

know who they are or how they became what they are.

The fights themselves are slow and unimpressive. There’s nothing

in here that matches the athleticism or grace of “Hero” or “House of

Flying Daggers.” Comparing Elektra to either of those movies is like

comparing a high school production of “Hamlet” to the Royal

Shakespeare Company.

At best, “Elektra” is a rental. My guess is that this will be on

cable by St. Patrick’s day, and my suggestion is that you wait a

couple of months and watch it then. This is better than the usual

stuff they target toward 11 to 14 year olds, but it’s not something

that mom and dad will find terribly entertaining.

* JIM ERWIN, 40, is a technical writer and computer trainer.