19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
What A Great Movie, August 20, 2003
Film has a quality unlike any other medium to catch and hold life. There is something about the grain in the picture that feels so much more realistic than video. It's one of the reasons I have a natural love of film and why I love films like Robert Siegel's (The Line) SWIMMING. A literate and beautiful postcard of one summer in the life of Frankie Wheeler (Lauren Ambrose, Can't Hardly Wait).
Frankie has lived in Myrtle Beach for her entire life. She's left it only once to visit her parents who had moved to Arizona to retire. Her parents used to run a restaurant that catered to the tourists who crowd the beaches in the summer. When they retired they left the restaurant to Frankie and her brother Neil (Josh Pais, A Beautiful Mind), whom keep it running `til this day.
Frankie is the kind of girl whose kind of shy and introverted and a tad bit homely. Which makes her best friend Nicola (Jennifer Dundas, Changing Lanes) the exact opposite. Nicola is outgoing and kind of sexy but she cares deeply for Frankie, and is willing to spite others who may be out to lose her friend. But when Josee (Joelle Carter, High Fidelity), a new girl blows into town and starts to get closer to Frankie, it test the two best friends loyalty.
This is Ambrose's movie. She embodies the right characteristics to play Frankie with such sweet and strong confidence. She commands the movie without trying too hard. She grows and changes without fireworks and `beat over your head' sentiment. How does she make it look so easy?
There is not one moment you can isolate out of this movie and point to as the reason why this movie works because her performance is that good. You don't give a damn about a plot holes, silly dialogue or various subplots that go nowhere, because you naturally care for Frankie as a human, not just as some film character. You want to see her grow, you want to see her smile, and you just want to be there to watch as her life unfolds.
SWIMMING doesn't attempt to give you clear-cut excuses for what's going on? I liked that. I liked not having to figure out why a minor character had to talk to an invisible guy. I liked that Frankie and Josee's relationship isn't quite clear. I like that the movie just let little moments happen, with absolutely no need for stunning revelations.
...
What a great movie SWIMMING is. I Highly recommend it.
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17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Not just another teen movie, November 23, 2002
By A Customer
Swimming (as in the old saying 'sink or swim') is about exactly that. Lauren Ambrose's character is a shy, quiet girl whose friends and family are so self-absorbed that they don't even notice how they're taking advantage of her. She's only beginning to notice it herself. When a quirky-yet-compelling guy shows up selling tie-dyes out of his van in front of the family restaurant, she has to figure out her priorities and do some soul-searching about the people in her life and what they mean to/for her.
One of the nicest features of this film is that it's more serious and doesn't have the forced light-hearted mood of most teen movies. There have been a ton of coming-of-age movies and Swimming doesn't break any new ground plotwise, but it is a very good execution of an old theme. All the cast members -especially Ambrose- turn in excellent performances and the direction and editing are just right. This is a mellow movie that's best enjoyed on a quiet night and in an an introspective mood.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Relaxed..., June 21, 2004
I loved this movie. The other reviewers are right, I guess the story could be seen as boring. But if you care about the characters, then it's not. It's a typical teenage movie in a sense that the crisis is a relationship struggle which seems petty to everyone else but to a self-involved teen is important. So there's no graphic violence or sex, just relationships. The characters are not typical teenage-movie stereotypes, though.
The ambience of the film is great. It's got a laid-back feel and strange characters. Like I said, the main plot is about a relationship, but I love the scenery, it reminded me of family vacations past.
This is not a life-changing movie. Don't expect to get shaken up, and if you really need directors to prode you to love their characters then you'll be dissappointed. It's an extrememly well-made, pleasant diversion and character-study. It's got great songs, too, btw. Highly recommended. At least rent it.
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