Customer Reviews

Swimming

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

I agree with one of the other reviewers in regard to the lesbianism issue. I don't think Frankie's reaction to Josee is attributable to latent lesbian tendancies. I think she likes Josee because she represents to Frankie the notion of sexual enagagement - really more with men than with women - and her attention to Josee's modes of operating contributes, somewhat ironically, to an awakening of her own heterosexuality. However, there is certainly enough well-crafted ambiguity in the movie to read the situation many different ways. It is wonderful when Frankie opens the back door of the hippie guy's van and steps into the morning sunshine to walk to work, how we are left wondering whether or not she had sex with him the previous night. It's interesting to consider why he glowed with a smile when she approached him unexpectedly on the street a few days later. The movie elicits the question "did they do it, did they do it?" in viewers' minds in a really tasteful way, but we never quite conclude the answer definitively. I even sensed the possibility that Nicola, Frankie's hapless best friend, might hook up with the hippie guy at the end, finally meeting a sensitive male with which to share her romantic, dramatic self.

Josee is in many ways just as complicated as Frankie, and I got the feeling that if any character in the movie was truely a lesbian, it was Josee. But I certainly don't think that Josee is as much of an opportunistic user of others as some reviewers here have expressed. I felt she was confused and a needy, operating in some ways out of survival (while well-disguised) rather than with a motive to exploit others for her own gain. I also felt that she displayed moments of loyalty to Frankie, just as Nicola did. For instance, after the shallow, jealous lifeguard comes into the restaurant and calls Frankie 'ugly' when she refuses to answer his questions about Josee's where-abouts, Josee comforts her, then trashes his apartment and leaves him. We don't quite know if Josee does it as a response to the confrontation between Frankie and the lifeguard, or independent of it, but the possibility of loyalty is there.

Ambiguity as a plot device is rarely utilized as well as it was in this movie. And as an actress, Lauren Ambrose skillfully and insightfully mediates between the wayward supporting characters around her and her own character's internal conflict to deliver a fine performance, moody and complex, like her performance on Six Feet Under. This is a special film.

"Swimming" (as in 'sink or swim') is a slice-of-life coming-of-age indie flick centered around the life of Frankie, played by Lauren Ambrose, who co-owns a small Myrtle Beach restaurant/bar with her older brother, Neil. Frankie is about 18 or 19 and is trying to find her place, purpose and identity in the world. She could be pretty but has no sense of style or charisma. She just kind of innocently mopes around. Her best friend is the sexy wild-child Nicola, who runs a body-piercing salon next to the restaurant.

When the ultra-sexy Josee, played by Joelle Carter, strolls into town it stirs up the curiosity of Frankie, the jealousy of Nicola and the lust of Neil and every other man, except Heath, a tie-dye shirt salesman who lives in his van with his dogs. Heath is a bit of a grunge/stoner and only has eyes for Frankie.

Make no mistake, although "Swimming" is a quiet little indie film, it's a 5-Star piece all the way. The story is strangely engrossing and highly realistic. If you're older than 25 it very accurately brings to memory those fun-yet-dreadful 'coming-of-age' years (if you're younger than 25 you're STILL coming of age). The characters are all highly believable; it's almost as if you know them, hence you CARE about their lives and their story. Also, although this is a drama there's quite a few laugh-out-loud moments.

The character of Josee is very intesting. She's ravishing, ultra-confident and overflowing with charisma. She knows this and uses it to her advantage to get whatever she wants. For example, she entices the lifeguard so she can have a free place to stay by the beach and charms Neil for a waitress job even though he doesn't need anyone, not to mention she's a lousy worker. She also charms Frankie in more than one sense. Josee instinctively senses that Frankie is kind of lost and that she can 'wow' her with her star appeal. Frankie naturally becomes a bit star-struck by Josee and it negatively affects her relationship with Nicola.

A reviewer on IMDb wrongly deduced that Frankie is a butch lesbian and just doesn't realize it yet. This is an inaccurate interpretation and I'll tell you why (it's obvious): Josee realizes the power she has over Frankie and is indeed attempting to stir her love and desire, and not just on a friendship level. You see, Josee feeds off of desire, from both men and women, regardless of the nature of the desire. It's clear in the film that, out of curiosity, Frankie briefly (yet seriously) considers the idea of lesbianism, such is the alluring power of Josee. Ultimately, however, she rejects it. Josee's spell over Frankie is broken once Frankie sees her true selfish, using and fickle nature. Frankie then re-focuses her romanic energy on heath and restores her friendship with partygirl Nicola, who had gotten into trouble with the law.

Josee's character is well portrayed in the laugh-out-loud scene where she's having sex with the lifeguard she's living with. The guy is passionately into it but Josee is obviously quite bored by the whole experience (in her mind she's just paying her room & board). It's hilarious and so true-to-life.

I'm genuinely surprised by some of the mediocre ratings of "Swimming." They evidently don't get it 'cause this is film-making of the finest expertise. Don't miss out on "Swimming" if it sounds like your cup of tea.

I agree with the others and will say that at times the film was a little boring but I thought it was one of the few recent good indepedent films. I thought it was a good take on what happens in real life.

we think that this is a perfect coming of age movie to view in the summer. the cast was well chosen, especially the two little boys in their first role. they did well. have fun with this summer flick!

I went searching for more films staring Lauren Ambrose and saw this one. I thought Ide give it a try. I was plesantly surprised to relate so well to the characters in the movie. The clothes, music and setting seemed very realistic. It brang me back to Highshcool (which was the late 90's for me) and the feeling was authentic. Just after finishing Six Feet Under and falling in love with Clair, I was worried that the role she plays in this movie wouldnt be similar, turns out I just like anything played by Lauren Ambrose! She does a great job at it all. This was definatly a nice addition to my collection of movies. Yep!

this movie was a good movie it has some good parts in it and some bad parts in it but dont they all have good and bad parts. i would get this movie if i was you. it's cheep and good. you would like it.

Just saw this film. From the shoestring production and film quality I assumed this was a vintage 1989 film. I was surprised to find it was actually made in 2000. Good try, but a standard "B" movie with some beach scenes. That it was Myrtle Beach and not Venice Beach is a big plus though.