I can't totally pan this movie. I also can't heartily recommend it. It has its moments. The cast is spectacular (gotta love Bob Hoskins, Brenda Blethyn, Kevin Spacey, John Goodman...) and I was amused and impressed by the dance numbers. Kevin Spacey can carry a tune, but he just isn't Bobby Darin (but then, no one is...). I was listening to "Bobby Darin Swings" a couple of weeks ago and decided to go ahead and see this, even though I think I was talked out of it by its bad reviews in 2004.
Well. The story was rather hard to follow because of the plot device used (adult Bobby keeps in touch with his younger self throughout the movie..to the point where it was impossible to know things like (SPOILER)how old was young Bobby when his mother died? We don't know for sure because both the adult Bobby and the kid Bobby were at the funeral. I know, it's supposed to be artsy. IT's not meant to be a truthful retelling of the story, just kind of an image of kind of what happened...in a roundabout way that leaves the audience going "HUH?" IF that was Spacey's intent (he directed and wrote this, I think), then he succeeded. It was all just a bit weird.
Where this film (SPOILER) really goes off the rails is its portrayal of Mr. Darin's descent into wacko war protestation as some kind of heroic time in his life instead of what it was. It seems to me that that was the low point of his life and career, yet this film would have you believe that he was triumphant in his career as a result. It just doesn't seem that way to me, and probably to most rational people.
This was a mixed bag for me. It could have been good but instead was an okay flick with some cringe inducing scenes that were painful to watch. See it if you love Bobby Darin. At least there's some nice music and you'll want to come home and listen to the real thing!
Well. The story was rather hard to follow because of the plot device used (adult Bobby keeps in touch with his younger self throughout the movie..to the point where it was impossible to know things like (SPOILER)how old was young Bobby when his mother died? We don't know for sure because both the adult Bobby and the kid Bobby were at the funeral. I know, it's supposed to be artsy. IT's not meant to be a truthful retelling of the story, just kind of an image of kind of what happened...in a roundabout way that leaves the audience going "HUH?" IF that was Spacey's intent (he directed and wrote this, I think), then he succeeded. It was all just a bit weird.
Where this film (SPOILER) really goes off the rails is its portrayal of Mr. Darin's descent into wacko war protestation as some kind of heroic time in his life instead of what it was. It seems to me that that was the low point of his life and career, yet this film would have you believe that he was triumphant in his career as a result. It just doesn't seem that way to me, and probably to most rational people.
This was a mixed bag for me. It could have been good but instead was an okay flick with some cringe inducing scenes that were painful to watch. See it if you love Bobby Darin. At least there's some nice music and you'll want to come home and listen to the real thing!