Insubmersible

Long distance swimmer Diana Nyad (Annette Bening) was a minor celebrity back in the 70's and 80's. Bonnie Stoll (Jodie Foster) is her longtime best friend and fleeting lesbian lover. It's 2010 and Nyad is drifting to her 60th birthday. Despite not doing big swims for the last 30 years, she decides to tackle her failed swim from Cuba to Florida when she was only 28. They hire local expert John Bartlett (Rhys Ifans) to guide them through the difficult currents.

It's the true story of Nyad who is allegedly the first to swim the Florida Strait unassisted. Married couple directors Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi do mostly documentaries of extreme adventurers. They are dipping their toes into bigger budget fares and this one has some big name actors. Annette Bening is striped down and is not afraid of looking ugly, both outside and inside. Nyad is not the most cuddly character. Jodie Foster is simply magnificent. She is way over-qualified to be second banana. Rhys Ifans rounds out the big three. The movie follows the standard sports movie profile. I would put more of her swim during 28 year old in the opening act. They need to accentuate her failed swim which would make her decision that much more compelling. This movie has one big surprise laugh and I wouldn't mind having more. Most of all, I love the relationship between Diana and Bonnie. It helps to have two great actresses playing these lived-in characters. They make this standard sports movie come alive.