The sound of Kevin Spacey

There are a lot of unfortunatelys I can say about the motion picture Beyond the Sea. This is the movie about singer Bobby Darin that stars Academy Award winner Kevin Spacey with Kate Bosworth as his wife, teenaged movie queen of the ’60s Sandra Dee.

The first one is that unfortunately, it was never picked up by local distributors so only those who caught it abroad and the patrons of the pirated film industry have had access to it. Unfortunately, too, because it was never shown here, the label with the rights to the soundtrack also decided not to release the album in the Philippines.

Unfortunately for star/producer/director Kevin Spacey, it took him a long time to get this project made. Most people today have no idea who Bobby Darin was. He had his first hit Splish, Splash in 1958 and died in 1973 of heart failure at 37. Unfortunately, too, although Spacey is one great actor and he is again brilliant as Darin, it will still take more to convince the viewers that he is a twenty-something singing idol.

Unfortunately again for Spacey, 2004 was the same year when Ray, the biopic of soul artist Ray Charles was produced. Although Darin’s brief life story was not lacking in drama, glamour and music, we have to admit that Charles’ longer one was more dramatic, what with elements of drug abuse, racism, tragedy, etc., etc., already built into the plot. Then, still another misfortune is the fact that Beyond the Sea makes for such smooth viewing that audiences forget that it is Spacey singing up there and not Darin. Academy Award winner Jamie Foxx lipsynched his way through all the songs in Ray. Not Spacey who sang for real.

Spacey can sing. I caught him performing in some films and special shows and it seemed like he also gives as much dedication to his singing as he does to his acting. And amazingly he can sing like Darin, who was some sort of maverick and therefore not easy to imitate. At a time when Elvis Presley, Rick Nelson and Pat Boone were the top idols, Darin eschewed ballads and rock and roll and finger-snapped his way through the Kurt Weill classic Mack the Knife from Three Penny Opera. It became such a big hit but Darin did not stay in that mode long, he also went for pop ballads, jazz, folk, country, etc. etc.

Spacey does all of those in the film and the soundtrack album has 18 songs once recorded by Darin like Splish Splash, Mack the Knife, Beyond the Sea, Hello Young Lovers, Once Upon a Time, Change, Artificial Flowers, Some of These Days, That’s All, Dream Lover, Simple Song of Freedom, If I Were a Carpenter among others.

This is the perfect companion to a Bobby Darin greatest hits collection. In some ways it is even better. Given the technological advances we have had since 1958, this Beyond the Sea has better sound quality than the originals. Then there is Spacey, you cannot help but admire this guy. Darin was a great singer and musician and he captures the nuances of what Darin was like. And yet it is no karaoke imitation. Spacey retains his own style throughout. What an artist!

MTV Movie Awards

The MTV Movie Awards was taped last Saturday, June 4 at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. So we already know the winners by the time you read this piece. But we still have to see all that happened for ourselves. Like who came with whom, who wore what or did anybody moon, curse, sassed, etc., etc., during the event. We will get the answers when MTV Philippines airs the show on Sunday, June 12 at 9 p.m. with replays scheduled on Sunday, June 19 at 12 midnight and on Saturday, June 25 at 10 p.m.

Set to perform are Mariah Carey, Eminem and Nine Inch Nails. Presenters of the popcorn trophy are Tom Cruise, Samuel L. Jackson, Hilary Swank, Vin Diesel, Rob Schneider, Jessica Simpson, Hilary Duff, Lindsay Lohan, Zhang Ziyi, Billy Bob Thornton, Salma Hayek, Katie Holmes, Zach Braff, Sean William Scott and others. Will Katie come with Tom? Will Lindsay of Mean Girls win over Hilary of Million Dollar Baby for Best Female Performance? She just might. You can never accurately predict what happens at the MTV Awards.