Some actor's were just born to play certain roles and Kevin Spacey has publicly stated that he was born to play this one and while he does possess a faint resemblance to the character one has to wonder if the life portrayed in this film is worthy enough for big screen treatment. This story is about the life of famed singer Bobby Darin (Kevin Spacey) who knew that he was living on borrowed time after battling rheumatic fever as a youngster. He never knew his father but was raised by his mother Polly (Brenda Blethyn) and her sister Nina (Caroline Aaron) and vowed to be a successful singer and replace the great Frank Sinatra.
*****SPOILER ALERT***** Darin hired his uncle Charlie (Bob Hoskins) and his friend Steve Blauner (John Goodman) to represent him and to help him rise to the top of the musical scene which he did with pop hits such as "Splish Splash" and others. He started to act in films and this is where he meets his future wife Sandra Dee (Kate Bosworth) who was heavily protected by her mother Mary (Greta Scacchi) but their marriage ended up having to endure alcoholism when her career started to go downhill. With the sixties came drastic changes in the country and the world and Darin had to figure out how to keep his own career going when he suddenly became obsolete but his life took a real turn when he finds out that his real mother is actually Nina.
Spacey himself directed this film and he's given partial credit for the script but the truth is that this project went through so many different drafts that no one knows for sure how many writers worked on it through the years. The big problem with this film has nothing to do with the casting of Spacey who is very good but the fact that Darin's life isn't exactly awe inspiring. He was decent singer and a decent actor and had average looks but truthfully the only interesting thing in his life was the secret about the identity of his mother. I also felt the film missed the boat when dealing with his relationship with his wife Dee who is portrayed as a shy woman who grew tired of supporting her husbands career. The truth is that Dee had some real inner demons of her own because of being molested at a young age and spent her life combating low self esteem and the script never really touched on these areas. The film's structure has the cliché angle of a movie within a movie with a young Darin aiding the current 37 year old with the accuracy of his life being portrayed on screen and this doesn't exactly come across in terms of being imaginative. There are several song and dance numbers but I don't think Darin was really that type of performer and it seems that the reason they are in the script was to allow Spacey the opportunity to show his own versatility. While I had many problems with this film I'm still recommending it because of two things and the first is the performance of Spacey who's personal drive to get this film made is evident in his spirited performance. The second reason is the latter part of the script where we see Darin struggling to reinvent himself when the climate of the country changed with the 1960's and his type of singing and music became outdated. This clearly isn't a riveting film and the script runs the usual gamuts as far as bio's go but it does offer a pretty good performance by Spacey who's own eagerness can be seen in his portrayal.
*****SPOILER ALERT***** Darin hired his uncle Charlie (Bob Hoskins) and his friend Steve Blauner (John Goodman) to represent him and to help him rise to the top of the musical scene which he did with pop hits such as "Splish Splash" and others. He started to act in films and this is where he meets his future wife Sandra Dee (Kate Bosworth) who was heavily protected by her mother Mary (Greta Scacchi) but their marriage ended up having to endure alcoholism when her career started to go downhill. With the sixties came drastic changes in the country and the world and Darin had to figure out how to keep his own career going when he suddenly became obsolete but his life took a real turn when he finds out that his real mother is actually Nina.
Spacey himself directed this film and he's given partial credit for the script but the truth is that this project went through so many different drafts that no one knows for sure how many writers worked on it through the years. The big problem with this film has nothing to do with the casting of Spacey who is very good but the fact that Darin's life isn't exactly awe inspiring. He was decent singer and a decent actor and had average looks but truthfully the only interesting thing in his life was the secret about the identity of his mother. I also felt the film missed the boat when dealing with his relationship with his wife Dee who is portrayed as a shy woman who grew tired of supporting her husbands career. The truth is that Dee had some real inner demons of her own because of being molested at a young age and spent her life combating low self esteem and the script never really touched on these areas. The film's structure has the cliché angle of a movie within a movie with a young Darin aiding the current 37 year old with the accuracy of his life being portrayed on screen and this doesn't exactly come across in terms of being imaginative. There are several song and dance numbers but I don't think Darin was really that type of performer and it seems that the reason they are in the script was to allow Spacey the opportunity to show his own versatility. While I had many problems with this film I'm still recommending it because of two things and the first is the performance of Spacey who's personal drive to get this film made is evident in his spirited performance. The second reason is the latter part of the script where we see Darin struggling to reinvent himself when the climate of the country changed with the 1960's and his type of singing and music became outdated. This clearly isn't a riveting film and the script runs the usual gamuts as far as bio's go but it does offer a pretty good performance by Spacey who's own eagerness can be seen in his portrayal.