In the past six months or so, we have had no fewer than three films about female open-water swimmers, said Brian Viner in the Daily Mail.
The latest stars Daisy Ridley as Trudy Ederle, the New Yorker who, in 1926, became the first woman to swim across the Channel. "It was a remarkable accomplishment, even more so as only five men had done it before her, and the fastest of them took two hours longer than she did." The story begins in Brooklyn in 1914, with Ederle struck down by the measles. Her parents think she's going to die, but she proves she is made of sterner stuff: "she not only recovers, but resolves to learn to swim", though her father (Kim Bodnia) considers it an "indecent" pursuit for a girl.
From here, the story "cleaves to the standard trajectory of such biopics" – with our "tenacious" heroine facing various setbacks, but showing again and again that "nothing is jolly well going to stop her". The film "deserves credit" for reviving interest in Ederle's achievements; but it's a bit of a belly-flop: "stolid", inelegant and surprisingly devoid of historical context.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
It's "impossible not to root for Trudy", said Charles Bramesco in The Guardian. But she's flatly drawn, as a gleaming "mascot for all that is good and right". We don't learn much about who she really was, or what drove her.
-
October 9 editorial cartoonsCartoons Thursday’s political cartoons include common political ground over the Epstein files, a new pledge for ICE agents, Bad Bunny, and more
-
Five policies from the Tory conferenceIn Depth Party leader Kemi Badenoch has laid out the Conservative plan for a potential future government
-
A House of Dynamite: a ‘nail-biting’ nuclear-strike thrillerThe Week Recommends ‘Virtuoso talent’ Kathryn Bigelow directs a ‘fast-paced’ and ‘tense’ ‘symphony of dread’
-
A House of Dynamite: a ‘nail-biting’ nuclear-strike thriller
The Week Recommends ‘Virtuoso talent’ Kathryn Bigelow directs a ‘fast-paced’ and ‘tense’ ‘symphony of dread’
-
The Finest Hotel in Kabul: a ‘haunting’ history of modern AfghanistanThe Week Recommends Lyse Doucet’s sensitively written work traces over 50 years of Kabul’s ‘Inter-Con’ hotel
-
The Smashing Machine: Dwayne Johnson is ‘magnetic’ in gritty biopicThe Week Recommends The wrestler-turned-Hollywood-actor takes on the role of troubled UFC champion Mark Kerr
-
Shadow Ticket: Thomas Pynchon’s first novel in over a decadeThe Week Recommends Zany whodunnit about a private eye in 1930s Milwaukee could be the 88-year-old author’s ‘last hurrah’
-
Southern barbecue: This year’s top threeFeature A weekend-only restaurant, a 90-year-old pitmaster, and more
-
Film reviews: Anemone and The Smashing MachineFeature A recluse receives an unwelcome guest and a pioneering UFC fighter battles addiction
-
Music reviews: Geese, Jeff Tweedy, and Mariah CareyFeature “Getting Killed,” “Twilight Override,” and “Here for It All”
-
Waiting for GodotFeature Hudson Theatre, New York City
