Diana Nyad is not the most pleasant woman in the world. If you were at a social event and she began talking to you, you wouldn’t want to listen to her for two minutes. So, why on Earth would anyone want to see a two-hour biopic about her life? It’s because it’s so well made.
Nyad has been a controversial figure in the sports world as she began as a distance swimmer. But it’s her mouth and actions that have gotten her into more trouble. Some would say she has no filter as real footage used in the movie, Nyad, shows her being short with Johnny Carson as she had appeared on The Tonight Show before but the first time he was the host. (It was common for Carson to take several vacations throughout the year. Rather than show reruns, NBC would ad a guest host the last one being Jay Leno.)
Played wonderfully by Annette Bening, she’s the type of person who will complain about getting old for a whole month before her birthday arrives, but her friends and/or family better have prepared something for her when that day arrives. In many ways, every day is Nyad’s birthday as she believes all topics of conversation and all actions should be about her and her alone as she talks about her surname is the same as the Greek for “water nymph.” The movie details Nyad’s attempts to swim the Florida Straights from Havana, Cuba to Key West, Fla.
Bening, who is the same age range Nyad was during these attempts in the early 2010s, has no filter either. She wears no make-up and uses a nice golden-brown tan to show off her aged body. And Bening is one of those great actresses who is so good at playing not-so-good people. Prior to making it big in movies, she played Lady MacBeth and Hedda Gabler, so she doesn’t go for the stereotypical “Good Girl” roles. There’s so much realism to her role she reminds me of so many people I know, both men and women, that maybe that’s why I was able to be stick with it as much as others who might have turned off after a while.
Nyad’s coach is Bonnie Stoll (an amazing Jodie Foster). Stoll is also her long-time friend and one-time romantic partner. It’s mentioned a few times but doesn’t make a big deal out of it. Stoll seems to be Nyad’s ride-or-die. She understands why Nyad is the way she is and is the only one to call her out when she goes to far that Nyad will probably pay attention. So, it’s likely the two may have tried to be closer only to realize it wasn’t going to work out and decided to stay as friends. Foster has always been a great actress ever since she was a teenager. But as she’s gotten more mature, showing the “crow’s feet,” she’s chosen her roles a little more wiser sometimes going a few years in between movies. This is one of her best roles.
Along for Nyad’s path is John Bartlett (Rhys Ifans well cast) as her navigator and definitely someone who can dish it out just as much as Nyad and not willing to be put off by her guff. Bartlett knows so much about nautical weather and its effects on tides and boats, he should be working for The Weather Channel rather than chartering his boats. Ifans who has appeared in comedies like Little Nicky, Notting Hill and The Replacements as well as dramas has the rough textures on his face to play a man whose first love is the sea.
These performances by three great actors manage to hoist Nyad up from the standard tropes of biopics and sports dramas like these. There’s the failed attempts in which Nyad puts her own health at great risk. Swimming the Florida Straights are dangerous because of sharks, cold water temperatures and also the fact that Nyad will lose 20-25 pounds of her weight. There’s also risks of jellyfish and swallowing too much sea-water.
Nyad is directed by Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin who have done documentaries, most notable Free Solo. They resort to the same structure where Nyad says the wrong things as it seems everyone has enough but they all come back. There’s the moment where she thinks she’s down and done for but realizes she just needs to go a little more to achieve her task. And there’s the soundtrack of popular music. The real Nyad would sing the songs in her head as she swam so it’s possible these were her songs. Yet, it still feels similar to other biopics that use popular music rather than find their own different musical style.
There’s no mention of the controversy surrounding the swim through the Straits as it wasn’t formally verified because of incomplete records and no independent observers. And there has been reports the movie dramatizes a lot of things, such as a potential shark encounter that didn’t happen. Possibly for budgetary reasons, her crew was minimized as she had multiple vessels along the Straits. It could be because Bartlett died from heart failure on Dec. 10, 2013 about three months after Nyad accomplished the swim on Sept. 2, 2013. It’s possible his role was emphasized out of memory for his work. Sheryl Yoast, who was portrayed by Hayden Panettiere in Remember the Titans, was actually one of four daughters to Bill Yoast. However, she had died in 1996 and it was determined to have her be Bill’s only daughter to honor her memory.
Other things Nyad has said about her life and what she’s done have been called into question. But this isn’t that type of movie. It’s about people who are so determined to accomplish something it becomes an obsession. I’ve seen people in fitness centers constantly pushing themselves to do more. One of my previous editors said some of her other reporters would spend longer than necessary reworking their stories to make sure the right word was used. Ironically, people who want to be perfect are anything but. I think Bartlett and Stoll were also obsessed with seeing Nyad accomplish the swim because they would be remembered as well.
As the old saying goes, “Whatever is worth doing at all, is worth doing well.”
What do you think? Please comment.
Zane Says 