BEYOND THE SEA

I had the pleasure of seeing the screening of Beyond the Sea starring Kevin Spacey as Bobby Darin on Sunday, September 12th at 9 AM. The movie had it's gala premiere at Roy Thompson Hall the night before, and then Kevin Spacey hosted a post-movie party. Lo and behold, was I surprised when the TIFF rep announced that the "director and star of Beyond the Sea, Kevin Spacey would like to say hello". Kevin did a brief hello, and announced that he would be back at the end of the movie for a Question and Answer Period.

I knew almost nothing about Bobby Darin (he died in 1973) except that he had recorded such hits as "Mack the Knife" and "Beyond the Sea". I did not know that he was an anti-war activist and that he had suffered from rheumatic fever as a child, that weakened his heart eventually leading to his death. I genuinely cared about the character that Kevin Spacey portrayed, as he was such a convincing portrayal of Bobby Darin.

I will agree with a sentiment posted to www.imdb.com : "Having said that I was very nervous about the success of a film where one guy not only produces, stars in, directs, co-writes but also does his own singing. Well, the guy pulled it off beautifully" -- Kevin wore many hats and has come up with a painstakingly created labour of love that will expose the music and character of Bobby Darin/william Robert Cassato to a whole new generation of movie and music lovers. During the Q and A sesstion, someone asked Kevin Spacey if this was his Copacabana. He laughingly replied "Yes, this is my Copacabana. " I can't wait until this is released to theatres, so I can see it again!

(more info can be found on the following sites: http://www.lgf.com/profile/beyondthesea.php and http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0363473/ )