Waterboys

I really got engaged and nearly started applauding the achievments done in the end, syncronized swimming aint easy, and very womanized, so when the japanese boys does a take on this subject, it has to be embarasing and righteous fun. though its very classic manga japanese style, with uniformed pupils everywhere, it shows a lot of the cultural genderistic and traditional japanese way of life. love and sexuality are very constricted and the humbleness and bowbending respect between hi and low and boy and girl is archtypical

its for a norwegian the kind of witty and dry humour so you might have to adjust your sense of humour a bit, but it is a comedy you should see. made in 2003 the speedoes and arenas are small and extremely tight, but there are no beer bellies or hairy creatures in this movie, so it should suit you all.

the grumpy old man, nowadays to stiff and fibrmyalgic to even stretch my knees, did some of this stuff in my glory days of youth. and being able to make me laugh its a recommend.

Waterboys is a zany, sweet comedy about a group of boys who get roped into starting a synchronised swimming team, and then have to get together a routine for an exhibition in a few weeks time! It's fun stuff that aims low and hits hard. There are lots of great sight gags and other slapstick comedy, but there's also an interesting love story and fantastic acting from the boys.

The film rolls along at a great pace, with Yaguchi a talented director treating us to lengthy tracking shots and other technical flourishes. The film never bores and always pleases, and as we head towards the climax, the comedy keeps coming, and the final 'routine' will delight you with its genius. A fun, endlessly rewatchable madcap comedy.

This film is about five students from a boys school getting into the synchronised swimming team.

"Waterboys" is a positive sports comedy. The five students have quite different personalities, but they all pursue a common goal of excelling at synchronised swimming, which is something they have never dreamed of doing. I thought it might be hard to fill up the screen time as most of the film is about how they train, yet it never feels boring. in fact, there are many funny moments standing out from a positive and upbeat background. The ending, which is their performance, is spectacular. I hope there will be more films like this.

I had enjoyed Japanese writer-director Shinobu Yaguchi's Swing Girls back in 2004, in a story of how a group of schoolgirls mobilized to form a big band jazz group, trained and finally perform in competition. It had a simple story made great by the excellent cast in endearing characters, as well as awesome jazz music to go along. In my attempt to revisit some of his earlier works, it had led me back to the Waterboys.

Waterboys almost follows the same formula, where a group of misfits get together, and against all odds and everyone's pessimism, manage to pull through and put up one heck of a performance. Along the way, they encounter seemingly implausible obstacles which stand to derail their plans and hopes, and sometimes watching them come through in comedic ways just puts a smile on you. It's one of those feel good movies without any real villains to snarl at, just being there to cheer them on as they try to give one of the best performances of their mundane lives.

A youthful looking Satoshi Tsumabuki (starred in this year's Nada Sou Sou) plays Suzuki, the only member of his school's swim team, who gets more members than he bargained for when a beautiful teacher, Mrs Sakuma (Kaori Manabe) becomes the swim coach of the all- boys school. But after a comedy of errors, we're left with 5 nerdy boys who must rough it out to be synchronized swimmers instead, bringing guffaws from their schoolmates and folks in their neighbourhood.

Not wanting to give up, they enlist the reluctant help of a dolphin trainer (Naoto Takenaka, who was also in Swing Girls) at Sea World, who trains them through unorthodox methods, which brings on the laughter and allows space for the boys to exude charm during their weird routines. It's basically an underdog's story and their struggles to fulfill a promise, whether or not they look stupid or effeminate while doing it. And thrown into the mix is a budding romance between Suzuki, and Shizuko Kiuchi (Aya Hirayama), a female karate exponent from a neighbouring all-girls school.

And when they finally get their act going, you'll be left wanting more. That's how a bubblegum movie should be, in order to cover its breezy, simple plot. Thoroughly entertaining, and suitable for all ages.

The Code 3 DVD from Alliance Entertainment (as with most locally pressed DVDs) comes without any special features. Visuals are letterboxed, and the quality of transfer is decent. The audio comes in Dolby Digital Stereo, and subtitles are available in English or Chinese. Scene selection is available in 8 chapters.

Young lads overcome stereotypes to become proficient athletes at a sport with which they're unfamiliar, with lots of laughs along the way toward a marvelous water show finale.