Wednesday 11 July 2018

Film: 'Swimming with Men'

I'd be lying if I stated that this film didn't raise more than even a smidgeon of a smile in me. It did - maybe a couple of times at most. Problem is, this comedy just isn't.......well, funny!    

Well-known British TV and stand-up comedian, Rob Brydon, plays a bored London business accountant who manages to get himself estranged from his wife (Jane Horrocks) when he suspects her of having an affair. On a relaxing visit to the public baths one day, he finds sharing the pool with him are seven middle-aged men (one younger) who, he's intrigued to find, are practising formation swimming. He offers advice based on his expertise with figures and when he suggests they need to be an even number he gets roped in, offering little resistance, as No. 8.   
I'd heard of, or could recognise by sight, most of the other actors in this swimming group - Rupert Graves, Jim Carter, Daniel Mays, Thomas Turgoose - to which add Adeel Akhtar, Nathaniel Parker and Robert Daws. 
They discover that there's to be (guess what?) a 'World Competition in Men's Formation Swimming' in Milan the very next month. Who would have thought it?! In one month's time? Blimey, they'd better get their skates on! And so they go about hiring a no-nonsense female coach (Charlotte Riley), exactly the hard task woman they need to bark orders at them to get them into shape and get them trained. You can easily picture the scenes can't you? - just as you can imagine how the rest of the film goes. Change the sport and we've seen it all told countless times before.

Director is Oliver Parker who's directed a number of films in recent years of Oscar Wilde adaptations. He does what he can with this but the material is too thin to spread far and, despite the novelty of the sport, it's ever so predictable. Also, I'm not sure whose idea it was to have much of the background music being mock-Morricone spaghetti western soundtrack. It sounds like a desperate attempt to whip up enthusiasm in the audience though, frankly, it sounds plain ridiculous rather than humorous.
Any comedy that does exist relies on physical humour rather than the unexceptional script, which for me fell flat because it's all so familiar. Little is done to exploit the unique aspect of swimming. 
There are a couple of tangential references to gayness, but nothing controversial or even vaguely offensive. 

I'm not sure this film will pick up much business outside this country as it's a fairly parochial affair - though 'The Full Monty' (to which this is being unfairly and unrealistically mentioned in the same breath) did turn out to be an international success - so we'll have to hang fire on that one. At just one hour and a half it still comes across as laboured. 
Despite its heart being in the right place, it simply ought to have been funnier!............3.5.

(IMDb.......6.4 / Rotten Tomatoes............5.1)



8 comments:

  1. I saw previews for this when RTG and I saw the mister rogers documentary 3 weeks ago. it looked interesting. and yes, "the full monty" did cross my mind as I watched the preview.

    ReplyDelete
  2. 'Mister Rogers', W.Q.? Doesn't mean anything to me and, having looked it up, it's hardly surprising.
    I'd be surprised if a film like this gets wide screening outside these shores, but one can never tell these days. Unless it appeals more to the sense of humour of other nationalities I can't see this doing particularly well, as most British opinion both on-line and published seems to agree that it should have tickled the funny bone much more than it does.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I saw Rob Brydon promoting the film on Graham Norton and it looked funny...I may have to rethink it though, now, as I trust your reviews to be mu=y guide and you rarely steer me wrong.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for saying that, Bob, though I'd hate to steer you or anyone else away from seeing this, or indeed, ANY film. Maybe that there's been (from what I've seen) very few who think the film is as funny as it thinks it is, should carry more weight more than any single viewpoint. If you get the chance and don't mind expending the time and money you might give it a go, and maybe you'll find a few more chuckles in there than many of us could find.

      Delete
  4. Worse than Morris Dancing.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Or do you mean "not quite as GOOD"? :-)

      Delete
    2. Such a philosophical question !

      Delete
    3. I was merely opining that there are WORSE things than Morris Dancing, Dr Spo - such as.....erm....like..........er..........

      Delete