★ 6 / 10
Average watch, probably won't watch again, and can't
Kamurai
Average watch, probably won't watch again, and can't recommend unless you're just into swimming / swimming movies. I already knew Peyton List could carry a…
Average watch, probably won't watch again, and can't recommend unless you're just into swimming / swimming movies.
I already knew Peyton List could carry a movie, and Olivia Nardini is amazing, but this story carries a level of psychological nuance that I don't think it conveys properly. Partly because it hides the nuance in some of the characters as an unnecessary reveal later on, and partly because they just fail to have the character address it directly.
A lot of the movie is her just being a sullen jerk or an angry jerk, but the movie is fairly enjoyable. I think that is mostly due to the great character work by the cast.
While I don't think this movie is a waste of your time, there are just better things to watch.
Read full review
★ 4 / 10
Bland and Uninteresting
JamesHitchcock
Although she is an Olympic medallist, Claire Carpenter has been regarded as the Bad Girl of American swimming ever since an incident in which she refused to…
Although she is an Olympic medallist, Claire Carpenter has been regarded as the Bad Girl of American swimming ever since an incident in which she refused to take part in a competition and then, when she was being questioned by a reporter about her decision, pushed the reporter into the pool. As part of her penance for her bad behaviour, Claire is sent to Australia to act as coach to a boys' swimming team. Upon arrival, Claire finds that she is expected to share a room with her rival Mikayla Michaels, despite the fact that there is a history of bad blood between them. (This is an Australian film; the point of making Claire an American was presumably to increase the film's appeal by recruiting a Hollywood star. I must admit that I had never heard of Peyton List, but I understand that she is well known by younger audiences in America).
The film reminded me of "Stick It" from 2006, another film about a young sportswoman with a troubled past. The heroine, or anti-heroine, of that film, Haley Graham, has been regarded as the Bad Girl of American gymnastics ever since an incident in which she walked out of competition in the middle of the World Championships, costing the American team the gold medal. After being convicted of hooliganism, she is given a choice by the judge of either going to jail or going back to train at an elite gymnastics academy.
When I first saw "Stick It", I thought I knew how the film would end. Under the guidance of a tough-but-fair coach Haley would rediscover her love for gymnastics, would undergo a complete change of heart, would be reconciled with her team-mates and her parents and in a wonderful sentimental feelgood ending would be crowned not only Olympic Champion but also Miss Popularity of the gymnastics world. To my surprise, the film had a quite different, and far more subversive ending, in which Haley manages to convert most of her team-mates to her rebellious attitude. "Swimming for Gold", however, does go down the feelgood route. Claire rediscovers her love for her sport, undergoes a complete change of heart, is reconciled with just about everyone, even Mikayla, and in a wonderful sentimental feelgood ending the team she has been coaching comes first in the Australian Olympic trials, sparing the club from the fate of being closed down. A romance develops between Claire and one of the young men she has been coaching, and we even get an explanation (albeit not a very convincing one) of Claire's previous bad behaviour.
Of the two films, I enjoyed "Stick It" a lot more than I did "Swimming for Gold". This may be because I have long been a follower of gymnastics, whereas I have never taken a lot of interest in competitive swimming. The main reason, however, is that "Stick It" is a lot more original, taking a decidedly irreverent view of its sport and satirising some of the less attractive aspects of gymnastics, such as pushy parents, a high injury rate, overbearing coaches and inconsistent judging. Missy Peregrym's Haley is a great comic character- smart, sassy, witty, no respecter of persons and yet strangely likable.
"Swimming for Gold", by contrast, does little more than rehash all the standard cinematic clichés about sport. Claire may be a Bad Girl, but List makes her a bland and uninteresting Bad Girl and an even more bland and uninteresting Good Girl after her conversion. Of the supporting cast, the only one who is at all memorable is Olivia Nardini as Claire's goofily obsessive fan Annabelle, and even her character tended to get a but annoying towards the end. The tone can be inconsistent; it is supposed to be a light romantic comedy, but light romantic comedy is not really the right genre for dealing with serious matters like childhood bereavement and traumatic, life-threatening accidents. When the writers try and introduce such topics into the script, the tone of the film becomes mawkishly sentimental. The film is as bland and uninteresting as its heroine. 4/10.
Read full review
36%
AUDIENCE
5.5/10
739
•••
im gonna download it for peyton