Call me cynical, but sometimes I get tired of uplifting sports biopics.
Sure, this isn't to say that some of the films that fall into this category are bad. I will admit to liking movies like Cool Runnings or Rudy...but then you have a movie like King Richard, which managed to take a sister duo that deserves all the accolades but chooses to focus on their father...a truly brash and frustrating narcissist.
When I heard that they were going to make a film about marathon swimmer Diana Nyad's swim from Havana to the Florida Keys, I felt that it had potential.
A woman in her 60s completing a swim that she couldn't achieve in her late 20s? Talk about a story of perseverance...it already has the "stand up and cheer" ending built into it.
Diana Nyad was in the news quite a bit during the 70s for her record breaking swims around the world such as The Gulf of Naples races and perhaps more infamously, her 1975 swim around Manhattan Island in just under 8 hours.
*Let's take a moment to appreciate the true grit of Diana Nyad for being willing to swim in the East, Harlem, and Hudson Rivers...ESPECIALLY at that time in NYC history...
In 2010, with Diana now 60 years old, she decides she wants to complete that Havana to Florida swim that eluded her in the 70s...but of course, all the built in concerns are there.
The distance, the safety, and her age.
All the while, she has support from her best friend Bonnie. Nyad and Bonnie did briefly date, but instead, they developed a strong friendship, and it is that friendship that proves to be the strongest asset to the film.
Nyad manages to leave you feeling inspired and touched by the end, but I think a lot of what makes us feel that surge of warmth and adrenaline aside from the actual story itself is the work of Annette Bening, Jodie Foster, and Rhys Ifans.
Strangely enough, Nyad does incorporate various snippets at the beginning, middle, and end of the film of various news reel and interview footage of the real Diana Nyad. This element makes the film feel like a strange hybrid of documentary and narrative storytelling...which honestly, I didn't mind this as much.
It doesn't come as a surprise when you realize that this film was directed by the team of Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi & Jimmy Chin, who are normally known for being documentarians. Their most successful work to date was 2018's Free Solo, which won the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature.
Their work on this film serves it purpose at best, but I feel like it is really the screenplay that brings the film down. When it comes to these very formulaic sports films, certain plot points become tedious as they seem to be repetitive in essentially every single one of them. Where the screenplay suffers more though is the actual dialogue.
Jodie Foster's Bonnie says to Bening: "There's nobody more Nyad than you".
...well, I should hope so. I mean, last names and all.
But that is me just being a bit catty. Technically, the word "nyad" is of Greek origin and it means "water nymph". Having this last name makes Diana feel like she has a sense of purpose in the water...but yeah, perhaps Jodie Foster should be thrust into awards consideration for delivering that line without breaking into a cacophony of laughter.
There has been talk of this film in relation to Oscar buzz, and while there are those out there who have been raving about it as being a truly uplifting and rewarding film, the only real shot it has at serious Oscar attention is with Annette Bening and Jodie Foster.
I think Foster, who admittedly could be considered a co-lead but will be placed in Supporting, might have a better shot simply because the Supporting Actress category seems very up in the air at this point. We seem to be in the midst of a small Jodie Foster comeback as she has been getting a lot more attention with this film and she will be in the upcoming new season of True Detective.
While Bening, whom I will get to shortly, is certainly drives the movie, Foster manages to provide the heart...and a great sense of warmth. We walk away really admiring Bonnie and how devoted she is to Diana as a friend...and the more I think about her, the more I think that Foster may have lowkey stolen the movie from Bening.
That isn't necessarily meant to negate Bening's achievement either. This is VERY physical performance and Bening did indeed put herself through training to do extensive amounts of swimming to be able to portray many of these swimming scenes with ease. I have read a lot of comments that it is hard to connect with the character because she is truly unlikable.
Is she a bit rough around the edges? Perhaps...but I didn't find her to be any more so than a random male character in any other formulaic sports film. I bought her drive and her commitment AND, most importantly, her devotion to Bonnie.
Bening has yet to win an Oscar and that is truly a shame. Could this performance actually net her a win?
It's possible...but as of right now, the Lead Actress category is so stacked that some contenders may be left off leaving many to cry foul at the snubs...and then questioning who they would take off to replace them with.
Since Nyad won't be getting near the Picture, Director, and Screenplay categories (NOR SHOULD IT!), I feel like it is always an uphill battle for a performer to gain traction against performances in more competitive films.
There are exceptions of course.
Just last year, Brendan Fraser managed to win Best Actor despite the fact his film got left off the Best Picture and Screenplay lists AND was rather polarizing for a lot of people.
Julianne Moore, another actress who was extremely overdue, won Best Actress for Still Alice, which was the film's only nomination.
It is too early to tell, but I certainly wouldn't be surprised if the tide shifts for Bening to become win competitive. I think she delivers a very committed performance, but I wouldn't consider it a non-brainer. Considering some of the weak performances that win Oscars, Bening winning wouldn't even be that bad of a selection.
We have now officially entered the end of the year "movie awards season" surge...and that means over the next few months, you will see a lot of new film reviews popping up on my blog. I do have reviews for PAST LIVES and BARBIE so please check those out if you haven't already!
As for Nyad, I find it kind of funny because two years ago, King Richard was one of the earliest films I reviewed from that year...and it left me underwhelmed.
I feel like Nyad has me in the same place mentally, but I still found the film more of an entertaining and rewarding watch.
It is worth it to see Bening and Foster work so well together.
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