Horst in Translation ([email protected])
"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.
