Swimmers

"I'm trying to hold a family together..." speaks Cherry Jones as Julia to her husband, Robert Knott, who plays the part of Will, in this compelling story of a waterman's family on Chesapeake Bay's Eastern Shore. Excellent performances from both actors, as well as from Tara Gallagher, Mike Mosley, Sarah Paulson, and Sean Hatosy in supporting roles. Financial pressures and strains from Will's drinking issues take the family to the breaking point and everyone is affected by the struggle. Doug Sadler's movie, brilliantly scripted, is a winner on all accounts and holds a mirror to reflect what is common in so many people's lives. Yes, that can be uncomfortable at times, but it is real and jarring in it's truths. Sadler manages to provide just enough levity through the film to keep us hopeful that everyone will pull through somehow. If you are looking for special effects, violence, gratuitous sex and nudity, this is not the film to see, but if you want a good story, well told and beautifully filmed, this is it and worth watching more than once.

I saw this just-about-perfect film when it screened at the Maryland Film Festival in May, 2005. Set in a small town, it tells the story of a Chesapeake Bay waterman's family as they pass through a crisis. The movie is superbly cast, with both famous (Cherry Jones) and unknown actors giving fine, nuanced performances. The Chesapeake Bay currently suffers significant ecological degradation from farm runoff, industrial pollution, and other factors. This has severely impacted crab, oyster, and fish populations and hence the livelihood of traditional Bay water-men. It is against this backdrop of economic struggle that the movie's story is told. Already poor and unable to afford health insurance, the family is pushed past the breaking point when their young daughter suffers a swimming injury and needs surgery.

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 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.

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!