Directors: Jimmy Chin, Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyhi
Writer: Julia Cox
Stars: Annette Bening, Jodie Foster, Rhys Ifans
Synopsis: It tells the remarkable true story of athlete Diana Nyad who, at the age of 60 and with the help of her best friend and coach, commits to achieving her life-long dream: a 110-mile open ocean swim from Cuba to Florida.
Few biopics cut in footage of the real life subject. Usually the filmmakers wait until the end so the audience can rub their chins as they watch the credits and say, “wow, she really did talk like that,” or “they did a fabulous job with that make up.” Though, with Nyad, directors Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, splice in a lot of clips of news footage.
A viewer could guess that the reason Chin and Vasarhelyi felt comfortable adding in this footage is because their background is in documentary. Their previous works focused on extreme sports putting us with the athletes. It’s like they wanted to keep reminding us that Diana Nyad is a real person and she actually did the harrowing feats she’s known for. It does take away from the drama, though. Especially when you have two powerhouse actors giving amazing performances.
For the first scene of the film, after the credits and the introduction, it feels like we could be in for an enthralling domestic drama. Two women who are platonic partners who do everything together, know each other’s tics, faults, tells, and needs bantering and bickering. It’s funny and charming. You get lost in it until you’re reminded that there’s more to both of these women than just their squabbles over the Scrabble board. It makes you wish a less sports focused pair took on this story. It’s likely the flashbacks of Diana’s sexual abuse at the hands of her swim coach wouldn’t feel as jarring as well, but could land with the impact they should.
Continuously swimming long distances sounds so much like a silly, “because it’s there,” type of feat. It’s a bit pretentious and we can tell from what Diana is like, a self-absorbed intellectual, that that concept isn’t too far off, but Julia Cox’s script delves deeper into the story than that. Diana is unlikeable as a person, but she has so many hidden depths in her ambition and her drive. She has a spark that even though she prickles against people, she’s able to draw them to her with her awe-inspiring vision. That sings through in the conversations Bonnie and Diana have underneath the conversations they’re having on the surface.
It takes a phenomenal actress to wear a real person like a second skin. Annette Bening is one of those actresses. She plumbs the depths of her subject and builds her from the inside out with incredibly long looks, deep sneers, bulldozing verbal attacks, and a terrific physicality. Bening takes an unlikeable woman and makes her into a multifaceted human. She’s never better than when she shares the screen with Jodie Foster.
It’s been a while since Jodie Foster has shown up in a role like this. She’s been sorely missed. Even as your heart flutters at just knowing it’s Jodie Foster back in full charming force, you don’t see her after a while and can only see Bonnie on screen. Foster’s timing is impeccable and her physicality is perfect. She brings life to the film and, as Bonnie, helps us to see the softer sides of Diana.
There is plenty of action in the film and the swimming scenes can be harrowing. The swimming itself is kind of boring, though, and it’s obvious that they chose bits of the stories of each swim in an attempt to keep that drama alive. The most compelling parts were seeing the effects of prolonged exposure to saltwater, sea creatures, and the elements as terrifically rendered by prosthetic artist Leo Corey Castellano. Seeing Diana like that takes away a bit of the romanticizing of feats of human endurance aspect of the film and turns it into a bit of body horror.
Nyad works best as a domestic drama. The relationship between Diana and Bonnie is the most intriguing aspect of the entire film. It’s an incredible story and Diana Nyad has had an incredible life, but the sports aspect of the film is just a kind of flavor for the dialogue between the two women and not that interesting to watch. The movie as a whole suffers for the attempts at showing pieces of the swims and brightens when it’s back to Diana and Bonnie.
Grade: B
