DVD/Blu-ray Mini-Review - Swimming With Men (12A)

No one talks about swim club.

The Gist: Rob Brydon plays Eric Scott, a middle-aged accountant stifled by his job and despairing of his marriage, who discovers an all-male synchronised swimming team at his local pool. In the throes of his mid-life crisis he is welcomed by the group, men in similar turmoil to himself. 'Swim club' is as much a way of life/means of male-bonding as a hobby, and nothing to do with competition - that's until the prospect of the men's world synchronised swimming championship comes into view. Coached by pool employee Susan, the boys bicker and splash their way towards the possibility of international glory in their unlikely choice of sport.

The Juice: Swimming With Men takes clear inspiration from The Full Monty and while it doesn't share the 1997 phenomenon's social bite, it does have a few things to say about male identity and the soul-sucking nature of the modern workplace. It's all conveyed with warmth and humour, director Oliver Parker (Johnny English Reborn, Dad's Army) nicely conveying Eric's white-collar anguish and the zen-like calm he experiences underwater. Praise too for smart editing that sharpens the effect of an already well-crafted screenplay that weaves in multiple character subplots with ease. Brydon plays the hero with lugubrious charm (British TV viewers already know how naturally funny he is), while the other swimmers - Rupert Graves, Downton Abbey's Jim Carter, Daniel Mays, This is England's Thomas Turgoose and Adeel Akhtar - prove a consistently funny and likeable ensemble, who actually succeed in some impressive synchronised moves. And as Susan, Peaky Blinders' Charlotte Riley kicks their swimming-trunked backsides with surprising ferocity.  

The Judgement: 7/10. There's a good deal of fun to be had with this saggy waterlogged bunch and their comic-heroic attempts at looking graceful in water. While the premise is slight on paper and the script hits lots of conventional beats, the camaraderie between this bunch is tangible, providing much laughter with rather than at them and keeping the whole story comfortably afloat (badum tish!). Inspired by the true story of the Swedish men's synchronised swim team and featuring a cameo from that aquatic Skandi band, this is a thoroughly enjoyable Monty-esque romp that earns it feel-good moments and almost makes me want to go back to the pool. Almost.