Swimming with Men (2018)

Simply A Masterpiece

Absolutely Fantastic

When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

Going to get some presents in Birmingham for an upcoming birthday,I decided to treat myself to a visit to the oldest cinema in the UK (The Electric.) Being lucky the last two times in catching strong indie flicks, (Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool and You Were Never Really Here)I was happy to find that along with Abba-themed cocktails, an indie Comedy I've heard nothing about was screening,which led to me dipping into the pool.View on the film:Stripping the outline of The Full Monty for this adaptation of the real life Swedish Men's Synchronised Swimming team winning the World Championships, (they cameo in the movie)the screenplay by Aschlin Ditta dives into the unique "winning" status some British teams gain,where they trip at the final hurdle, but are treated like champions. Drawing British Sit-Com thumb-nail sketches of the team, Ditta spins an easy-going Comedy atmosphere linking the sports genre bonding of the team,with Scott finding fulfilment in the team work.Closing in on Scott's loneliness with stark close-ups, director Oliver Parker & cinematographer David Raedeker bring light to his life with colourful edits linked between each swim,and stylish underwater camera moves,which allows for the formation of each impressive synchronised move to be viewed. Holding the team together as his personal life goes out to sea, Rob Brydon gives a warm performance as Scott,with Brydon's breezy comedic skills making a splash, as Scott begins to swim with men.

Poor old Rob Brydon's Eric is down on his luck. Stuck in a dead end job whilst his wife's political career is flourishing, he convinces himself she's having an affair. As his world begins to crumble around him he seeks solace from the one thing that provides him with a hint of comfort; swimming. In the pool he splashes upon an unusual group of men ranging from 20 to 70 who are also floundering in the deep end of life, but just so happen to be part of a synchronised swimming team. He joins them and together they examine their lives, assess what brought them to this point and find themselves unlikely entrants in the unofficial Men's World Synchronised Swimming Championships.It's a fairly unique basis for a story and one that doesn't quite manage to stay afloat despite the best efforts of an excellent cast.Rob Brydon's natural charm and excellent comic timing is the film's saving grace. Immensely likeable despite his oafish behaviour he does his best with a script which, sadly, doesn't match his considerable talents.There's a handful of laughs to be had along the way, but certainly not enough to make full use of the fine ensemble. They're all a fairly likeable bunch, but not explored enough. Their surfaces are barely scratched so it's hard to feel sorry for any of them, apart from Jim Carter's Ted.A weak love story between Charlotte Riley's Susan and Luke, played by Rupert Graves, isn't believable and certainly not one to root for given the circumstances of the breakdown in his marriage.Director Oliver Parker produces interesting shots, particularly in some of the underwater scenes, and there's a decent score from Charlie Mole accompanying the action.Swimming With Men is a film to watch on a wet Sunday afternoon that will pass 96 minutes, but one that you will probably forget as soon as the credits roll.

"Swimming with Men" is a new British comedy movie from 2018 directed by BAFTA nominee Oliver Parker and written by Aschlin Ditta in what can be considered his breakthrough effort perhaps. These 95 minutes are definitely a film that could make a minor impact at the next BAFTAs too, even if the genre is maybe not too awards-friendly. I will not say too much about the cast as you can check the list for yourself. The main character is played by Rob Brydon and he proves certainly that he is more than a poor man's Steve Coogan, even if the two look alike for sure. Rupert Graves is in it too, but the most known supporting cast member for me here is Jim Carter who will be a treat especially to Downton Abbey audiences. Anyway, his presence here is something that is symbolic for the entire film in terms of drama. Even a rushed in story about his dead wife simply cannot make this film anything more than a comedy and this also applies to everything related to the main character: his job, his marriage, his son and so on. The film is somewhat stuck between wanting to be taken seriously in this field too and just using drama as means that it does not become a film that is ridiculously and unrealistically comedic in a negative way. So yes, it is all about the laughter and there is indeed a lot. Most of it is pretty good like all the water scenes basically or the ways in which the protagonist struggles with the group of swimmers early on, for example the scene where he does not even want to be included, but they talk in a way as if he wants it so badly and they struggles with accepting him. Of course, on the other hand, there are also some letdowns from the comedy perspective, but of course it cannot all be a success. This refers for example to the telephone talk scene in the car with the two boys in it too that is really funny only once, if at all. Or the conflicts between the swimmers really were another failed attempt at drama. The one area where they were doing it right was the kid that is constantly hunted by the police. Another thing I struggled with here were the antagonists, like the wife's boss (the punching scene felt so unnecessary) or the Swedish swimmer with a love interest in the female coach. Sure we are supposed to cheer for one of the swimmers getting her, one of the guys from our team, but to see how he is antagonized for no reason really just didn't feel right, also due to how respectfully he acted towards the team. It was not all just fake. Anyway, there's also some positive aspects for sure in terms of realism, like the fact that our team eventually did not need to win to truly make an impact. And more. It's not about a 100% happy ending no matter which perspective you take. It is a bit of an unusual British comedy because of how innocent and harmless it is, no black humor in it at all really. I have seen people compare it to "The Full Monty", but I have not seen that one, so I cannot talk about parallels and differences. Anyway, back to this one here: I certainly recommend checking it out. It does what it needed to do as a comedy. It is funny at times, 2 or 3 times maybe even laugh-out-loud funny, even if those will be seen differently and appreciate differently by everybody in the audiences. I myself don't hesitate in giving this one a thumbs-up. i was surprised how full the theater was during my sitting as I ddi not expect this film to lure many viewers in there, especially on a summer day outside of Britain, but they went there rightfully and weren't disappointed I'm sure. The slightly awkward gay-themed humor was also a win, which is always a bit of a difficult subject in comedies. Well done all around. See it.

Just watched Swimming with Men in Germany ahead of its UK release next month. Lots of laughs, good clean fun, but with an excellent message about team work and mateship. Don't let the title put you off- this is a great little gem of a film.