Swimmers

Will (Robert Knott) enters a shop and doesn't have enough for his beer, so he takes it out of a jar on the counter that is there to pay for his daughter Emma's (Tara Devon Gallagher) ear operation. This is just after he screamed at his wife Julia (Cherry Jones) for putting the jars out in the first place. Next we see him getting some work, and the first place he goes is to get more beer. This time, he buys one of those plastic roses to give Julia, expecting a sexual payoff.

This is the kind of guy Will is. He is out of work leaving Julia to figure out how to pay the bills and get her daughter an operation while he gets drunk. We all know the type.

This is an interesting picture of working class families trying to make it in the face of adversity. There are and will be many more like this as we get through our current economic crisis. People start coming apart at the seams, while others find solace and strength where they can.

Emma turns to Merrill (Sarah Paulson), who has problems of her own from a childhood incident when she was Emma's age. Paulson is fantastic, and really makes this movie.

Jones is equally brilliant as she tries to hold everything together with the drinking, and philandering, and lack of money.

There isn't a pretty solution, and there is no FX, violence, or a lot of nudity to distract you. You just have to sit back and take in the problems of everyday people and hope for the best.

Sadler's "Swimmers" portrays a waterman's family in crisis as a result of his daughter's need for ear surgery. The film provides a glimpse into the Tyler family's upheaval as they search for a financial solution for the necessary surgery. The water scenes were beautifully constructed and gave the viewer a look at the beauty of the Chesapeake Bay area. The sub-plots intricately weave together to bring about the conclusion to this thoroughly enjoyable and brilliant piece of work. I loved the film and found each character well cast. Most importantly, it provides real insight into the plight of the watermen and their diminishing way of life. Highly recommended! "Swimmers" is a keeper!"

Swimmers is a wonderful film. The story really pulls you in and is very touching. The audience is able to identify with many of the characters since common human strengths and faults are expressed in this film. The acting is superb; the watermen characters are right on. Emma is an endearing character and made me teary-eyed throughout the movie. The friendship between Emma and Meryl is as believable as it is sweet. Anyone from a small town will be able to identify with the story of Swimmers. Other parts of this film that I really enjoyed were the scenes of the water. The shots of the water and the boats were beautiful.

We recently saw "Swimmers" at the Waterfront Film Festival. It's a lovely take on the dysfunction that roils beneath the surface of many (if not all) families in one form or another. The story centers on a five-person family as told through the eyes of its youngest member, an 11 year-old girl. The characters and motivations of the mother, father, daughter and one of her brothers are very well-developed, as is that of an unrelated woman that comes to their small Maryland coastal town with some baggage of her own. The story plays beautifully, its underlying tensions coming to a head near the end of the film. Thought-provoking -- my husband and I were talking about it hours after we'd seen it. We hope this film gets picked up and distributed!

We just saw the movie by accident. We went to the theater to see BI2 and saw that Swimmers was playing. We had the thrill of meeting Doug Sadler (writer & director) and Robert Knott. Since we live across the Chesapeake Bay from the Eastern Shore, where the movie is set, we are familiar with the area, the lifestyles, the economics and such. Swimmers captures the intensity of the Chesapeake Bay watermen in the declining estuary, and the rhythm and flow of the water and the people that make their living on it. I was immediately sucked into the intensity of the movie, and the innerness of the people. The acting is so good and the filming, timing, sights and sounds are so well done, that I forget I was watching a movie and felt that I was sitting next to over looking over the shoulder of the person (actor) in the scene. The subject is intense, and the plot is the personalities of the family members, their thoughts and their interactions. It's a movie that will peel back the onion of your memories and deep personal feelings. It's definitely not a feel good movie. It's much more a feel what is very real about you and people you are closest to movie.