Directed by: Joachim Ronning
Written by: Jeff Nathanson, based on the book by Glenn Stout
Starring: Daisy Ridley, Tilda Cobham-Hervey, Jeanette Hain, Kim Bodnia, Ethan Rouse, Stephen Graham, and Christopher Eccleston
Runtime: 129 minutes
‘Young Woman and the Sea’ is a splashy, celebratory biopic along with some pools of shallow storytelling
The English Channel, which separates England and France, is 21 miles across at its widest point.
New York City is 3,480 miles from the English Channel, and in 1914, visiting England or France or swimming the Channel isn’t a thought in NYC resident Trudy Ederle’s (Daisy Ridley) head.
As “Young Woman and the Sea”, decorated swimmer Gertrude Ederle’s biopic, begins, she suffers from measles as a small child. Trudy nearly dies, but what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.
Director Joachim Ronning’s film – written by Jeff Nathanson and based on the 2009 book by Glenn Stout - tells a vitally important story of women’s sports history, but the movie doesn’t feel like a strong Oscar contender. Ronning doesn’t wade into the details of Ms. Ederle’s grueling training or her mindset, passion, and drive for the sport.
The film doesn’t explain them, nor do we hear Trudy say, “I love swimming because…”
However, this Disney and Jerry Bruckheimer production effectively dives into the societal obstacles Trudy faces as well as the Ederle family’s varying degrees of support during her journey, and these dynamics work to build a rousing, splashy celebration of the woman.
The family lives happily in their modest New York apartment. Henry (Kim Bodnia) - a butcher by trade and is cut with a traditional mindset - loves his wife, Gertrud (Jeanette Hain), and their three children, the oldest, Meg (Tilda Cobham-Hervey), Trudy, and Henry (Ethan Rouse). Swimming only occurs to the five as a sport or pastime when Gertrud suddenly decides that the girls should learn in case of a life-or-death circumstance.
Meg and Trudy take to the water like fish, and Cobham-Hervey and Ridley offer some warm moments as their sister alter-egos enjoy laps around the Coney Island Pier. Meg and Trudy are close, and the actresses and Ronning stress this point with several opportunities for sisterly bonding in and out of the water.
Recreational strokes soon become formal lessons when Gertrud decides (yes, she decides, despite Henry’s objections) to enroll the teens in Lottie Epstein’s (Sian Clifford) swimming classes.
Gertrud and Lottie have unwavering convictions and are both natural leaders. Gertrud carries a quiet, self-assured confidence, while Lottie is frequently animated and outspoken. They are role models for Trudy, but she doesn’t directly call out their influences, other than ensuring to kick her feet while swimming, so Ronning and Nathanson don’t directly connect the dots.
Through montages, we see Trudy skyrocket in the pool as she captures a collection of impressive records, trophies, and ribbons.
She’s Janet Evans, Amanda Beard, or Katie Ledecky, decades before these ladies were born, and – due to her awareness of Bill Burgess (Stephen Graham), who swam the English Channel, she eventually sets her sights on the same goal.
As mentioned earlier, Trudy’s drive and source for her athletic gifts aren’t explained or explored, but her path, from a clunky doggie paddle to resilient, assured freestyle strokes in the English Channel, is a winding one. Like most highly successful people, Trudy faces setbacks, and they explicitly are due to inequitable opportunities for women and ineffectual coaching methods from Jabez Wolffe (Christopher Eccleston).
Throughout the picture, Trudy’s obstacles are mostly emotionally driven, not physically sourced, which is a limitation of the film.
“Nyad” (2023), the stressful, riveting Diana Nyad (Annette Bening) biopic, took a distinctly different approach. That movie repeatedly pummels the audience with Diana’s absolute physical toil attempting to swim from Florida to Cuba, as the 65-year-old (at the time) Bening indeed looks like she’s dragging herself through a living hell, burned by extreme exhaustion that only comic book heroines could endure.
Through Diana’s unreal and wholly compelling perseverance, Annette gives one of the very best performances of 2023.
Ridley isn’t asked to match Bening’s struggles, or that’s how it plays out in the picture. Certainly, Ridley must have spent oodles and oodles of time in the pool and open water, and she’s competent and believable as Trudy, battling through races and the Channel, including harrowing spots with a school of intimidating sea creatures and the final stretch between France and England. Ronning and cinematographer Oscar Faura help ratchet up the drama in these moments with stunning visuals that look beautiful and intimidating on the big screen.
The aforementioned close family ties and overcoming institutional chauvinism keep us more than simply afloat with interest in Trudy’s welfare. Credit a talented ensemble for offering a few troubling villains to criticize, a slew of heroes to commend and applaud, and an extraordinarily courageous and daring all-time great athlete born in New York City on October 23, 1905.
Jeff’s ranking
2.5/4 stars
