Swing

Who knew rowing could be so dramatic. Throwback 90s era where a college row team is full of young men trying to find their way in life. Thematically solid and promotes team values that are rare today.

I watched this because Michael Shannon is in it. He's a great actor. No question.

The story, downtrodden college team, challenged with mediocrity and tragedy are brought to competitive brilliance by a coach with many demons of his own. Too many other tropes to count.

The story arc, and conclusion, are never in doubt. Oddly, the athletic climax is muted.

The rest of the film is bogged down with CW network level actors and actresses. And, unfortunately those storylines sink to some cringe worthy teen melodrama.

Shannon raises the script to better than acceptable. Unfortunately, the two main younger leads, Melton and Von Ludwig, are not capable of elevating the juvenile dialogue.

Not the best two hours I've spent.

Im a sucker for sportsmovies. I was very interested in this movie since I did rowing when I was younger. But the movie just falls flat.

The dynamic between Alex and his father is interesting and the classic story of a team with potential but teamwork issues, works, but the romance seems to be a irrelevant parallel story with no purpose. The end makes absolutely no sense both in terms of character building and realism.

Really wanted to like this movie, but it fails to deliver.

Casting 5/9. Only worthy mention is ofc the old man directing was the weakest part.. romance is forcefed and has no purpose at all.

All in all, enjoyable considering the drought in the boxoffice.

This is a very formulaic film, and I should have known that going in (I didn't, because it's the first 'rowing movie' I'd ever heard of, thought this may have a different spin). Of course, it has to be interspersed with college-kid drama, love, and ridiculous set-up situations (girl hates boy, boy is a hurt soul, girl loves boy madly, ad nausea, replete with the requisite steamy snowing scenes, steamy raining scenes, etc.).

Michael Shannon is usually always great, but he was very stiff here, which for me, rendered him a less believable character. The other actors did a good job; Ludwig is a real rising star for sure, the other boys mostly forgettable and the girls, ugh; pure annoyance.

But for me, the big letdown here is the end. Naturally, a sports film pits the lowly underdogs against the revered and unbeatable favorites. No spoilers here, but the most ridiculous thing happens during the final showdown that could not possibly make a difference to the outcome of the race, and yet it does, big time. It is SO absolutely stupid that you immediately feel insulted for having your intelligence assailed. For me, this movie went from a 6 to a 2, but I'll compromise at 3 for Ludwig and the guy who played his father performances.