Director: Jimmy Chin | Writer: Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi
Starring: Annette Bening, Jodie Foster, Rhys Ifans, Luke Cosgrove
From the creative pair who brought us Free Solo, the incredible story of free climbing the world’s most iconic and dangerous rock faces, comes another true extreme sports story, this time in dramatic form. But Nyad is no less real or real-feeling; it’s the story of a woman who is hell bent on pushing herself beyond the normal limits of a human, and that’s a tale we all can be drawn to. Nyad is part capturing a moment and a life, but it’s also part reminding us what we’re living for, and that’s a movie audiences will want to experience.
Diana Nyad is a marathon swimmer, pushing her body and endurance past the breaking point and still going strong, relying on her mind even more than her muscle. In the 70s, as a young woman, she tried the impossible and failed; to swim from Cuba to Florida, which is over a 100 miles and takes multiple days. Years later, Diana would be faced with aging slowly and living with that failure, something she could not accept. So, now in her 60s and no longer an athlete, Diana decides to try again, with the help of her best friend Bonnie, with failure not an option and success a goal that has become an obsession.
The simple reality and history behind this is incredible; Diana Nyad attempting multiple times to swim the 50-70 hours straight it would take to go from Cuba to Florida through the ocean. And through the sharks, the jellyfish, the cold, the waves, the nights; just amazing. That awe-inspiring story is brought to us by the director and writer very well; the rest of the movie is probably only nice, not excellent. Nyad is a feel-good film, it isn’t Oscar-caliber cinema, and that’s perfectly fine. That Bening and Foster are both nominated for Academy Awards is a bit surprising, but art is subjective, so there you go, who knows. Watch for inspiration and excellence, and feel great about the relationships between the characters along the way, just don’t expect Best Picture.
My rating: ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆