am watching beyond the sea right now and am wondering who is singing the songs. doesnt sound like bobby and wonder if it is kevin spacey doing the singing. as talented as he is, i never knew kevin had the music in him. so far its a pretty darned good flick.
shareIt's Kevin; definitely NOT Bobby.
sharedefinitely Kevin. if you liked the movie, you'll love the soundtrack. and I'll say this much, there are very few souls who can pull off their own singing in movies and Kevin did it perfectly. (I'm listening to the soundtrack right now, track 4, Simple Song of Freedom)
shareIt is Kevin doing the singing, which amazed me. I have seen him in many movies (like K-PAX) and never knew that he had it in him to be a song and dance man. Two thumbs way up, Kevin!
There is room for all God's creatures - right next to the mashed potatoes.
Are you all sure it's all Kevin? It seems like some songs and scenes are Kevin and some are Bobby. It seems like they blended both.
Grrrrrr!!Aaargh!!
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Kevin was in musicals from age 14 to 24, & had a natural ability too.
share"...except for "Le Mir" (the French snippet of "Beyond the Sea")"
Ahem, excuse me... That was "La Mer" (the sea), the most famous song of our beloved poet and singer Charles Trénet, who passed away in 2001. I'm a huge french fan of Kevin Spacey's, but the american version of that song is way not my favourite in his film. It's not Kevin's fault, of course, he did his best to sing it after Bobby Darin, and Darin himself sang it after someone else, if my memory serves me correctly. It's just that, in my opinion, the original version by Charles Trénet is much better, softer, more poetic and lyrical. But maybe I'm prejudiced :-).
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Yes, sorry, I think you're slightly prejudiced.. The French version (Charles Trenet, was it?), I agree, is excellent; but the Bobby Darin version is also excellent. Is there any reason why we can't (very) happily enjoy both?
share"Yes, sorry, I think you're slightly prejudiced."
I don't deny it :-).
"Is there any reason why we can't (very) happily enjoy both?"
I'd like it. But the original version by Charles Trénet is really an original and unexpected creation – hence its international success –, whereas (in my humble opinion, of course) the american version is derivative and sounds like any other line-produced song you could hear at the time. I prefer Simple song of freedom or If I were a carpenter, for example. And I love The Curtain falls, in which Kevin gives a true vocal performance.
In the pilot (Episode 1x1) of the TV show, "White Collar," Bobby Darin's "The Good Life" plays as Neal Caffrey (Matt Bomer) comes down the stairs in his "vintage Rat Pack" suit and performs his signature "hat trick"...In the finale episode (Episode 6x6: "Au Revoir"), as Neal struts up the street to begin his new life in Paris, we hear Charles Trenet's "La Mer" (which, in English, became Bobby Darin's "Beyond The Sea")...
shareListen to the soundtrack. It's all Kevin.
(I just watched Hell is for Heroes last night. Bobby did a little singing in that. Funny.)
I asked the question earlier, and for some reason it was deleted I don't know why, What was the name of the instrumental that was playing while mBobby and Sandra were in the bedroom?
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Thank you very much. I can't beleive how quickly you've came to my assistance. I've always liked that song but never have been able to find any info on it. I'm still trying to score a download on 'He Sleeps' from Pretty Woman.
Jim
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There was at least one song that sounded like Bobby to me as well, even though I think Kevin did the majority of the singing.
shareI confess: I am not a Bobby Darin fan. I thought his singing was third-rate Sinatra, and his acting hammy at best. His greatest real talent was composing. I thought his Oscar nomination more a tribute to his energy than his talent, and was delighted when that old soldier Melvin Douglas won. That said, even I knew Kevin Spacey's vanity project was in trouble...until I heard him sing. He sings better than Bobby did on a good day, and he dances with a grace and agility I haven't seen in a non-dancer since Albert Finney tapped along with Little Orphan Annie.
Viva Kevin! Ya did all right, kid.
"I confess: I am not a Bobby Darin fan. I thought his singing was third-rate Sinatra, and his acting hammy at best. His greatest real talent was composing. I thought his Oscar nomination more a tribute to his energy than his talent, and was delighted when that old soldier Melvin Douglas won. That said, even I knew Kevin Spacey's vanity project was in trouble...until I heard him sing. He sings better than Bobby did on a good day, and he dances with a grace and agility I haven't seen in a non-dancer since Albert Finney tapped along with Little Orphan Annie. '
Better than Darin? Come on...Spacey was great but nobody beats Darins ability to carry a lyric...no not even Sinatra!
To each his own...but I almost cried when I read your post (kidding). The world hasn't produced another perfomer of Darin's caliber...ever.
I would agree abouth is acting however. I felt he had quite a bit of natural talent, but it didn't ever feel like he could let go of the performer in him long enough to really play a role (except for Pressure Point...man did he nail that). Guess thats why my favorites of his are the Sandra Dee Romantic comedies. His energy was absolutely second to none however.
When Spacey was promoting the movie, he made several appearances on the morning talks and brought along the band. It is most definitely Kevin Spacey singing the songs... and doing the dancing.
If you didn't know, Spacey is a classically trained actor and is the Artistic Director for the Old Vic Theatre Company in London. He was a part of Joe Papp's New York Shakespeare Festival and has many, many stage credits.
It is Kevin Spacey all the way... and he does a great job, by the way.
Yes Kevin Spacey did all of the singing and I also recall when he appeared on all of the talk shows that he mentioned that he practiced religiously to perform the Bobby Darin tunes himself and that he also directed the movie as well. The actor was a long time fan and admirer of the late entertainer. In my own opinion Kevin Spacey was perfect and portrayed the character very convincingly. I've been a fan of Spacey ever since he portrayed an '80's
gangster type in the tv series Wiseguy and his Oscar winning performance in
1999's American Beauty was terrific as well! Kevin Spacey rocks!
Regards, the birdmanster
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I'm glad to know that he did do all of the singing...he did do a great job.
shareI thought Spacey did a good job with the singing. You listen to the soundtrack and he sounds quite a bit like Darin in a few of the songs. I did hear that his singing voice being close to Darin's is one of the reasons he decided to play the part himself.
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I thought the movie was great. I was a teenager when Darin had his big hit with "Beyond the Sea". Spacey came awfully close to Bobby's voice on that number. At first I thought it WAS Bobby. Absolutly brilliant performance by Kevin.
share"Beyond the Sea" did sound more like Darin than any of the other numbers Spacey sang.
shareThey toyed with the idea of using Darin's stuff for the film...the problem was that it wasn't going to be a traditional biography. The fantasy musical numbers simply wouldn't have worked with dubbed, unalterable music. They therefore needed a living singer to sing the modified songs along to the needs of the film...and Spacey sold the Darin estate on his ability to pull it off. They were initially very resistant to letting someone else try to play Darin's singing voice...but Spacey's amazing mimicry won them over.
shareKevin Spacey is a great impressionist. Watch some You Tube clips and you'll be amazed. One thing about impressionists, they can also do impressions of singers. That was something I heard Sammy Davis Jr. say during an interview.
shareYes it is Kevin Spacey singing. It's written on the trivia page:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0363473/trivia
Great talented man.