A Swim Movie Fails to Inspire
Swimming for Gold (2020)
A Quick Film Review
It's hard to imagine an Australian swim camp hiring a young American without coaching experience to coach. Let alone a young American woman to coach a young men's team. And a woman just coming off a mental breakdown in competition, to boot.
A Quick Film Review
It's hard to imagine an Australian swim camp hiring a young American without coaching experience to coach. Let alone a young American woman to coach a young men's team. And a woman just coming off a mental breakdown in competition, to boot.
But that's where we start in 2020's Swimming for Gold from director Hayley McFarlane's family-friendly Australian film. Unfortunately, the flighty premise just underscores the overall lightness throughout.
Claire (Peyton List) is apparently a world championship medal-winning swimmer now nicknamed 'Catastrophe Claire' for a panic attack moment in a swim meet gone viral. To help her move forward, her father finds her a coaching job with an Australian swim club - this, despite that public "freakout", and apparently not having been able to even enter a pool since. And her charges are young men essentially her own age.
Well, okay. From there, it was hard to take much seriously. A coach has to room with a student? A coach begins a mutually flirty relationship with one of her swimmers, Liam (Daniel Needs)? The club's manager, Bodhi, champions Claire's "enlightenment" as she has the men play 'Marco Polo' and 'Duck Duck Goose' (for underwater acoustics and team building, respectively?)? Luckily, all it takes is a rather quick and half-hearted criticism from Liam to snap Claire out of her malaise and set her focused. And before you know it, all goes, well, swimmingly.
I could go on, but it's all very maddening. On the plus side, there are quick cameos by Paralympic swimmer Ellie Cole and Olympic swimmer Ariarne Titmus...
Swimming is a sport that deserves a good sports movie, but this isn't it. Let me know in the comments when you find one. At least I finally can have Hulu stop recommending this as a suggested movie to watch.
Claire (Peyton List) is apparently a world championship medal-winning swimmer now nicknamed 'Catastrophe Claire' for a panic attack moment in a swim meet gone viral. To help her move forward, her father finds her a coaching job with an Australian swim club - this, despite that public "freakout", and apparently not having been able to even enter a pool since. And her charges are young men essentially her own age.
Well, okay. From there, it was hard to take much seriously. A coach has to room with a student? A coach begins a mutually flirty relationship with one of her swimmers, Liam (Daniel Needs)? The club's manager, Bodhi, champions Claire's "enlightenment" as she has the men play 'Marco Polo' and 'Duck Duck Goose' (for underwater acoustics and team building, respectively?)? Luckily, all it takes is a rather quick and half-hearted criticism from Liam to snap Claire out of her malaise and set her focused. And before you know it, all goes, well, swimmingly.
I could go on, but it's all very maddening. On the plus side, there are quick cameos by Paralympic swimmer Ellie Cole and Olympic swimmer Ariarne Titmus...
Swimming is a sport that deserves a good sports movie, but this isn't it. Let me know in the comments when you find one. At least I finally can have Hulu stop recommending this as a suggested movie to watch.
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