Movie Review: In ‘Nyad,’ Jodie Foster swims away with….
There are two examples of endurance in “Nyad.” The first is Diana Nyad’s (Annette Bening) unwavering will to complete a marathon swim across 103 miles of open, shark-infested waters from Cuba to Florida. Then there is the ability of Nyad’s entourage to put up with the remarkably conceited and obstinate Nyad. In the movie, both involve endurance sports.
“Nyad,” which is available on Netflix starting on November 3 and releases in limited cinemas on Friday, is essentially a traditional sports drama with a focus on personal success and long odds. However, there is enough here to help the picture, which is helmed by the daring filmmakers Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, at least ride a rapid current to the finish line, if not swim against the tide of sports-biopic convention.
Primarily, this is a sports drama starring two actresses in their sixties, Jodie Foster as Bonnie Stoll, Diana’s personal trainer and best friend, and Bening as Bening. The beginning of “Nyad” takes place outside of the 1970s, when Nyad became well-known because to her record-breaking swims. Diana is sixty years old today, and that only signifies how far she has come from a true hardship. She asks, “Where is the excellence?”
Soon after, Diana returns to the pool with the intention of finishing the Cuba-to-Florida swim—a path that some moviegoers might more closely identify with the Go-Fast boats of Michael Mann’s “Miami Vice” than with physical endurance. Diana sees the 50-hour project as a means of realizing a long-ago desire she left unfulfilled and demonstrating to herself and the world that she is stronger than her age.
It is one of the few roles that can be considered Oscar bait as well as shark bait. However, Bening’s acting is not overly pretentious. Her Diana is so utterly narrow-minded as to be disliked. Bening transforms into a fiercely forward-moving force as Diana touches the water; nothing, not even jellyfish stings, will be able to stop her from achieving her goal. Simply keep swimming? She was going to leave Dory behind.
