Beyond the Sea (film) project." Desson Thomson from "The Washington Post" praised the actor's work, but also felt Spacey did not convincingly portray Darin in his early music career. Internet reviewer James Berardinelli found the storyline to be overtly clichéd, but added, "Despite the choppy narrative and inappropriate casting of Spacey, "Beyond the Sea" managed to keep me entertained." Roger Ebert gave a largely positive review, stating that, "Kevin Spacey believes he was born to play Bobby Darin. I believe he was born to play more interesting characters... In his own best work, Spacey has achieved genius; he is better as an actor than
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