Directed By Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi & Jimmy Chin; Screenplay By Julia Cox; Starring Annette Bening, Jodie Foster, and Rhys Ifans.
Based on Diana Nyad’s 2015 autobiography, Find a Way, this movie centers on the real-life world-class athlete (Annette Bening). At age 60, decades after giving up marathon swimming for sports journalism, Diana becomes obsessed with completing an epic task that always escaped her: a 110-mile open ocean swim from Cuba to Florida. Determined to become the first person to accomplish that without a shark cage, Diana spends four years working on it with her best friend and coach Bonnie Stoll (Jodie Foster) and a dedicated sailing team.
Coming from the world of documentaries, this narrative feature directorial debut for Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi & Jimmy Chin is mostly well directed. The cinematography by Claudio Miranda is incredible, especially with the underwater sequences. There’s some flashbacks to Diana Nyad’s teenage years used quite effectively. Neat use of archival footage. Impressive visual effects work in some scenes. The music selections for the soundtrack are nicely chosen.
Vasarhelyi & Chin both also managed to get great performances out of their cast. Phenomenal work from Annette Bening, who is both literally and emotionally strong throughout. The makeup work on her from the swimming scenes looks so realistic. She’s well matched by Jodie Foster as Bonnie, who on her own is an absolute standout. Together, their relationship is the heart and soul of this movie. Solid work from Rhys Ifans as John Bartlett, who also dons a very convincing American accent.
Where I think the movie falters though is that the directors do seem to struggle a bit with keeping the momentum alive from start to finish. There are several scenes where the editing by Christopher Tellefsen could’ve been tightened up. The story itself is quite an inspiring one, but the depiction here doesn’t feel as compelling as it should be. Although the third act is definitely the most engaging part. Nyad as a film doesn’t a hundred percent live up to its potential, but it’s still pretty good.
Rating: 3.5/5
Based on Diana Nyad’s 2015 autobiography, Find a Way, this movie centers on the real-life world-class athlete (Annette Bening). At age 60, decades after giving up marathon swimming for sports journalism, Diana becomes obsessed with completing an epic task that always escaped her: a 110-mile open ocean swim from Cuba to Florida. Determined to become the first person to accomplish that without a shark cage, Diana spends four years working on it with her best friend and coach Bonnie Stoll (Jodie Foster) and a dedicated sailing team.
Coming from the world of documentaries, this narrative feature directorial debut for Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi & Jimmy Chin is mostly well directed. The cinematography by Claudio Miranda is incredible, especially with the underwater sequences. There’s some flashbacks to Diana Nyad’s teenage years used quite effectively. Neat use of archival footage. Impressive visual effects work in some scenes. The music selections for the soundtrack are nicely chosen.
Vasarhelyi & Chin both also managed to get great performances out of their cast. Phenomenal work from Annette Bening, who is both literally and emotionally strong throughout. The makeup work on her from the swimming scenes looks so realistic. She’s well matched by Jodie Foster as Bonnie, who on her own is an absolute standout. Together, their relationship is the heart and soul of this movie. Solid work from Rhys Ifans as John Bartlett, who also dons a very convincing American accent.
Where I think the movie falters though is that the directors do seem to struggle a bit with keeping the momentum alive from start to finish. There are several scenes where the editing by Christopher Tellefsen could’ve been tightened up. The story itself is quite an inspiring one, but the depiction here doesn’t feel as compelling as it should be. Although the third act is definitely the most engaging part. Nyad as a film doesn’t a hundred percent live up to its potential, but it’s still pretty good.
Rating: 3.5/5