Review of The Big Bad Swim (2006) by Don S — 17 Aug 2013

Pretty low budget, pretty damn decent flick. Never know what you will get with an indie flick. This one impresses. Great cast of characters created by relatively small names, and a nice, believable, well-delivered story about people just trying to be happy, more or less.

Really liked the cast as a whole and a few scenes. Amy is an attractive teacher with a douchey husband. Her first scene at the casino at the blackjack table was pretty great. Great writing there. Noah is a good-looking ex-diver teaching swim classes to adults. Pretty good character. Not sure about the acting...he doesn't do much. But Branson is very good as very flat, and the character has some great qualities that help the movie. Jordan could have been a silly, pathetic character given her occupation, but she stands up well in the movie. Another great scene, in my opinion, is when she waits outside for Noah. Again, a well-scripted conversation highlighting the awkwardness of becoming attracted to someone and trying to gauge their interest/show them you are interested. Damn well done.

In the end, maybe a little flat. Most positives on imdb, and the fig leaves mean the film was well-represented at some of the film festivals. If there is a complaint, it's along the lines of what was the point of what I just watched? But that is kind of the brilliance of it. There is no great plot or twist or anything. It's just good characters and the writing makes it interesting enough to stay invested for 90 minutes. A certain scene at the end proved my investment. I really wanted that one thing to happen!