by MATTHEW HAYS

The excesses of celebrity and obsession with success in American culture are so extreme as to be both repugnant and fascinating. And one of the fascinating elements in all this is the downside. For every Sinatra, there were legions of wannabes, never-weres and almost-weres.

Suffice to say Bobby Darin, the crooner/teen sensation/actor, was a gifted songwriter and performer. He dropped from grace in the '60s, after his particular brand of crooning fell victim to the British Invasion. Despite a few catchy tunes, a good voice and a moonlighting gig acting (one that earned him an Oscar nod), Darin was washed up.

Indeed, if this sounds like (yet) another Hollywood rags-to-riches-to-rehab story, that's because it is. And despite fantastic fodder for a biopic, the sad news is that the co-writer, director and star of Beyond the Sea, two-time Oscar-winner Kevin Spacey, largely blows it as the man himself.

Much has been made of Spacey's mid-40s age, something that makes him a somewhat absurd choice to play Darin, who died in his 30s due to heart problems stemming from rheumatic fever he suffered as a child. There is the usual plot evolution here: Darin starts out poor, has loving mom, wants desperately to become famous, weathers hard times, gets first big break, falls in love with gorgeous, also-famous gal (Sandra Dee, played by Kate Bosworth) and then - well, things falter. It is so predictable that, unless you have some sort of superb wrench to throw into the formula, it's all bound to descend into… well, formula.

Worse still, Spacey attempts some self-reflexive tricks by introducing a young actor (William Ullrich) who plays Bobby at a young age. In a film-within-a-film gag, Spacey, portraying Darin, begins to speak with the actor playing young Darin, who in fact is the young Darin. (And is thus full of insights into the crooner's life.)

This is a device that's simply downright maudlin, and one that leads to an embarrassing number in which Spacey gets to dance with his inner child. A further bit of evidence that Beyond the Sea is a vanity project gone terribly wrong.

Beyond the Sea opens Friday, Jan. 21

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