Kevin Spacey It Forward" (2000), a patient in a mental institution who may or may not be an alien in "K-Pax" (2001), and singer Bobby Darin in "Beyond the Sea" (2004). The latter was a lifelong dream project for Spacey, who took on co-writing, directing, co-producing and starring duties in the biography/musical about Darin's life, career and relationship with actress Sandra Dee. Facing little interest for backing in the United States, Spacey went to the United Kingdom and Germany for funding. Almost all of the film was made in Berlin. Spacey provided his own vocals on the "Beyond the Sea" soundtrack and
Beyond the Sea (film) their own there." "Beyond the Sea" received mixed reviews from critics. Based on 147 reviews collected by "Rotten Tomatoes", 42% of the critics gave the film a positive review, with an average score of 5.2/10. "Metacritic" calculated a weighted average score of 46/100, based on 35 reviews. Sandra Dee, Dodd Darin, Jimmy Scalia and Steve Blauner responded enthusiastically to Spacey's work on the film. Mick LaSalle of the "San Francisco Chronicle" felt Spacey looked too old to portray Darin convincingly and called the film "one of the most embarrassing spectacles of 2004" and "jaw-droppingly awful, a misbegotten and ill-conceived vanity