Beyond the Sea is a 2004 American musical biopic based on the life of singer/actor Bobby Darin. Kevin Spacey co-wrote, directed, co-produced and starred in the film as Darin.
The film depicts Darin's rise to success in both the music and film industry during the 1950s and 1960s, as well as his marriage to Sandra Dee (Kate Bosworth).
This film features examples of:
- The Alcoholic: As success takes Bobby on the road and away from home, Sandra begins to drink heavily.
- Chaste Separating Sword: When Bobby and Sandra move in together after their marriage, she is reluctant to share the bed with him. Bobby pulls down a decorative sword wall-hanging (scaring the hell out of poor Sandra) and recounts a story of Courtly Love, before laying it down between them as a promise that he won't touch her until she initiates. His chivalry wins Sandra over, and she crosses the boundary moments later.Bobby: My momma used to tell me a story when I was a kid that in the Middle Ages, one of the knights in King Arthur's court, he laid down his sword between himself and Guinevere, and he promised that he would never cross over to the other side.
Sandra: Really?
Bobby: I am laying down this sword between us. That's my side of the bed, and that's yours, and I will never cross over. Ever. I don't care if we don't touch for a thousand nights. Only you can cross over to my side. Only you. - Family Relationship Switcheroo: Bobby discovers that his mother Nina is his grandmother and Polly, the woman he assumed was his older sister, was actually his biological mother.
- Line-of-Sight Name: Bobby's stage surname "Darin" was lifted from a flickering Chinese restaurant sign reading "MANDARIN" with the letters "MAN" not working.
- My Own Private "I Do": Bobby and Sandra decide on this, despite Sandra's mother's objections.
