Nyad

Jodie Foster and Annette Bening in “Nyad.” Netflix photo via IMDB

Besides the nearly suicidal demands it places on the body, long-distance open-ocean swimming isn't a sport for the faint of mind or weak of character.

Along with the continuous threat of vomiting, the cold-from-the-inside-out sensation of hypothermia and the lactic acid build-ups that reduce chiseled muscle to jelly, there are the hallucinations and visits to the dark side of your psyche that accompany the lonely hours in endless expanses of ocean.

Welcome to the world where Diana Nyad set out to stake her claim.

“Nyad,” now playing on Netflix, tells the true story of the champion marathon open-water swimmer who, after a long stint as an ABC Wide World of Sports commentator, returned to the water when she turned 60 to complete her dream of swimming from Cuba to Florida.

There's no surprise ending. Everyone already knows how the story turned out in 2013. Plus, swimming long distances is nothing if not methodically boring. Dare to be dull is my mantra as I do my daily pool laps. So the filmmakers have their own challenges keeping things lively, along with the challenges they depict on the screen.

Luckily there are Oscar-winners on both sides of the camera to convey the struggle as well the uplifting climax, adapted from Nyad's book. Annette Bening plays the character whose name in Greek translates as “water nymph.” The role's swimming requirements are just the first test for the 65-year-old actress. Before the film ends her face will be severely disfigured by jellyfish, sunburn, and the ocean itself in the course of her many attempts to fulfill the goal she set for herself when she was still in her 20s.

But just as demanding are the psychological dimensions of her character. Her dream is cosmically ambitious, and her single-minded dedication is obviously inspirational. But the film doesn't pull any punches when it comes to the doubts, self-absorption and exploitation of those around her required to make her dream come true. Bening's performance is excellent, but that doesn't mean her character gets any more likable as the story progresses.

All the warm fuzzies are left to her coach and BFF Bonnie Stoll, wonderfully portrayed by Jodie Foster. Bonnie is pressed into the role of reluctant facilitator at every stage of Diana's quest. Bonnie exudes warmth, vulnerability, humor and tough love, softening Diana's sharp edges as she goes. They're not a couple, but more like soulmates or partners in an entity better than either could be by herself.

Foster doesn't so much steal the movie as emerge as the story's true star. And every time she's onscreen, she rocks.

Rhys Ifans rounds out the principals as navigator John Bartlet. With uncanny knowledge of weather and the Gulf Stream, he becomes the linchpin of Nyad's mission, at considerable cost to himself. If Bonnie is the real star, he's the North Star.

But as the story illustrates, if Diana's self-absorption pushes everyone around her to their breaking points, the process also brings out higher selves they could have never found by themselves. Diana may be a soloist, but wouldn't exist were it not for her team.

Directors Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi showed themselves zen masters of screen active , winning an Oscar for the amazing documentary “Free Solo.” It was followed by “The Rescue,” the documentary recounting of the miraculous mission to save the young members of a Thai soccer team trapped deep in a cave in in 2018. This time, working with superb actors, the filmmakers add more nuances of psychology and character to their resumes.

Considering the slow-motion pacing and long boring hours inherent in distance swimming,”Nyad” intersperses flashbacks of their protagonist as a girl and young woman. The tough, triumphant woman she would become was in some measure the result of men in her childhood and youth. Years later she would learn labels, like abandonment and abuse.

“Nyad” is buoyed by an outstanding golden oldies music track. It was the playlist Nyad sang to keep herself going through the boredom and the waves, and to help her make it through the darkest nights. As with all great sports movies, the music is the hidden weapon, triggering adrenaline and endorphins for the audience along with the athletes. 

Ironically, the release of the film has revived controversies about Diana Nyad's version of the events in her book. Spats like this bring out her prickly side, a defiant pride bordering on hubris. 

But along with Bening, the real-life Diana deserves praise for allowing her portrayal in “Nyad” to reveal the chinks in the armor of the heroic water nymph.

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