While the main actress is Peyton List whom is American, this is an Australian film. You can find several excellent movies from there in any genre, action, horror, romance, drama, etc... so don't make them think otherwise. This particular movie may not be excellent but it's quite enjoyable if you're looking for a young sports romantic comedy.
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alesaenz-480036 February 2021
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daan_833618 September 2020Yes, the first thing that I noticed was that some of the dialogues appeared staged or scripted rather than natural. There was also little about the storyline that was truly surprising. That being said, I wouldn't write this movie off just yet.
Once I had accepted that this movie wasn't going to win any Oscars, I began focussing on the elements that *were* enjoyable. As a former competitive swimmer, the intensity of training sessions throughout the day, the lack of sportsmanship between teams, and the suspense in winning by just 1/100 second were all recognisable. It was also pleasing to see the underwater shots of flip turns and the attention for peculiar techniques and considerations.
Moreover, the performance of the main actors is admirable. Their physique was unmistakably that of a competitive swimmer, and mind you - this is not something anyone could achieve in six months or something. These actors have clearly been swimming for years. Yet they've also managed to convey the story in a reasonably convincing manner. Assuming that they are swimmers first and actors second, they are really quite all right.
All in all, if you're looking for a story with unexpected turns or for subliminal acting, this might not be the movie for you. However, if you have any affinity with competitive swimming, I'd advise you to give it a shot. There's a good chance of finding many moments that are both relatable and entertaining. -
Kamurai2512 November 2020Average watch, probably won't watch again, and can't recommend unless you're just into swimming / swimming movies.
I already knew Peyton List could carry a movie, and Olivia Nardini is amazing, but this story carries a level of psychological nuance that I don't think it conveys properly. Partly because it hides the nuance in some of the characters as an unnecessary reveal later on, and partly because they just fail to have the character address it directly.
A lot of the movie is her just being a sullen jerk or an angry jerk, but the movie is fairly enjoyable. I think that is mostly due to the great character work by the cast.
While I don't think this movie is a waste of your time, there are just better things to watch. -
Cheesy characters, predictable script, overacting aplenty.
I've seen a few seriously fantastic Aussie movies, but most aren't done well. This one is right down there with them. It felt like watching a teen TV show with a bunch of episodes running end-to-end.
If you're going to watch it - just keep your expectations low. -
ews-5431129 October 2020Clearly, these people have never seen nor talked to anyone that has actually swam competitively before. A little research into the role can go a long way...
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jfmakis13 September 2020Quite seriously. Don't waste your time. It was predictable, acting was bad and it wasn't even funny. Perhaps if you had young children it may have some redeeming value but we had to walk out half way. It was terrible. Sorry
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JamesHitchcock9 July 2021Although she is an Olympic medallist, Claire Carpenter has been regarded as the Bad Girl of American swimming ever since an incident in which she refused to take part in a competition and then, when she was being questioned by a reporter about her decision, pushed the reporter into the pool. As part of her penance for her bad behaviour, Claire is sent to Australia to act as coach to a boys' swimming team. Upon arrival, Claire finds that she is expected to share a room with her rival Mikayla Michaels, despite the fact that there is a history of bad blood between them. (This is an Australian film; the point of making Claire an American was presumably to increase the film's appeal by recruiting a Hollywood star. I must admit that I had never heard of Peyton List, but I understand that she is well known by younger audiences in America).
The film reminded me of "Stick It" from 2006, another film about a young sportswoman with a troubled past. The heroine, or anti-heroine, of that film, Haley Graham, has been regarded as the Bad Girl of American gymnastics ever since an incident in which she walked out of competition in the middle of the World Championships, costing the American team the gold medal. After being convicted of hooliganism, she is given a choice by the judge of either going to jail or going back to train at an elite gymnastics academy.
When I first saw "Stick It", I thought I knew how the film would end. Under the guidance of a tough-but-fair coach Haley would rediscover her love for gymnastics, would undergo a complete change of heart, would be reconciled with her team-mates and her parents and in a wonderful sentimental feelgood ending would be crowned not only Olympic Champion but also Miss Popularity of the gymnastics world. To my surprise, the film had a quite different, and far more subversive ending, in which Haley manages to convert most of her team-mates to her rebellious attitude. "Swimming for Gold", however, does go down the feelgood route. Claire rediscovers her love for her sport, undergoes a complete change of heart, is reconciled with just about everyone, even Mikayla, and in a wonderful sentimental feelgood ending the team she has been coaching comes first in the Australian Olympic trials, sparing the club from the fate of being closed down. A romance develops between Claire and one of the young men she has been coaching, and we even get an explanation (albeit not a very convincing one) of Claire's previous bad behaviour.
Of the two films, I enjoyed "Stick It" a lot more than I did "Swimming for Gold". This may be because I have long been a follower of gymnastics, whereas I have never taken a lot of interest in competitive swimming. The main reason, however, is that "Stick It" is a lot more original, taking a decidedly irreverent view of its sport and satirising some of the less attractive aspects of gymnastics, such as pushy parents, a high injury rate, overbearing coaches and inconsistent judging. Missy Peregrym's Haley is a great comic character- smart, sassy, witty, no respecter of persons and yet strangely likable.
"Swimming for Gold", by contrast, does little more than rehash all the standard cinematic clichés about sport. Claire may be a Bad Girl, but List makes her a bland and uninteresting Bad Girl and an even more bland and uninteresting Good Girl after her conversion. Of the supporting cast, the only one who is at all memorable is Olivia Nardini as Claire's goofily obsessive fan Annabelle, and even her character tended to get a but annoying towards the end. The tone can be inconsistent; it is supposed to be a light romantic comedy, but light romantic comedy is not really the right genre for dealing with serious matters like childhood bereavement and traumatic, life-threatening accidents. When the writers try and introduce such topics into the script, the tone of the film becomes mawkishly sentimental. The film is as bland and uninteresting as its heroine. 4/10. -
jimilee_19713 June 2022To all the clowns complaining about "professional swimmers know" and "cheesy characters" and all that mess...sit down and hush! This was a funny, happy, silly family feel good movie with a great message. This was a movie meant to give you a laugh, a smile and a sigh every now and then, it delivered on every point.
We wish there were more movies that still tried to accomplish those simple things in a meaningful and classy way!
Bravo...bravo... -
Gordon-1124 August 2020Many scenes are filmed in places of outstanding beauty, and the people are really look looking too. The story is engaging and fun to watch. I enjoyed it a lot.
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rtabereaux27 February 2022Do you do any research before making a movie? Is it that hard to find swimmers with acting experience? This entire movie reflects poorly on the swimming community. I hope someday the movie industry can portray the sport accurately. I'd be happy to provide tips for free if it would help produce a halfway decent swimming movie.
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diogocinefilo15 July 2021As a professional swimmer and swimming teacher, I was offended. Australia has always been a reference in the sport, so the least the production team could have done would be to follow two or three days of real training. Or even see how a competition works. Besides, the story and the dramas of the characters don't make any sense.
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jellycactus14 July 2023Don't get me wrong these swimmers have decent technique but it's not the best. At the nationals meet it shows they are going 24s and 25s in a 50 free, for women. This would be world record pace which is very unrealistic with the current record being listed at a 26.
During training it says they significantly improved on there times after 2 days of doing more difficult training.
And for some reason nobody is talking about all the safe sport violations, for example a coach dating a swimmer. This is a massive violation even if the coach and swimmer are the same age.
As a fellow swimmer I have determined that this movie is not very accurate. -
firebird-905896 February 2022We were "surfing" around looking for a movie to watch. With streaming, there is no end to movies. We stumbled across this, and the info on it looked fun. Rarely do we find a really wonderful and uplifting movie. Yes, it is clean, but the story line was great. I'd like to pick out one of these young people to speak about, but the truth is, every single one of them were terrific young actors! It has everything in it to make the watcher feel wonderful. You cared about all of them. The ending had us cheering right along with the characters. I know some think this was a bland movie. It is not! We had a very sad incident on Christmas Eve, and we haven't bounced back. It will be a long time, but this was the first time since then that we felt like no matter how sad or bad something happens, the good can and will come again, thanks to this movie. I don't want to give spoilers, but you will make a huge mistake if you don't watch it!