"Young Woman And The Sea"

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[00:01:31] Senua's Saga, Hellblade 2.

[00:01:33] Play it now with Game Pass.

[00:01:35] You are listening to the Next Best Picture Podcast, and this is our review of Young Woman in the Sea.

[00:01:41] I know you've thought about it.

[00:01:48] How far is it across?

[00:01:50] It's 21 miles across.

[00:01:53] Currents changing every few hours.

[00:01:55] Freezing water.

[00:01:55] The hardest test in all of sport.

[00:01:59] Do you think I could do it?

[00:02:02] Do you think I can?

[00:02:07] I've decided to swim the English Channel.

[00:02:10] What do you mean?

[00:02:11] I'm going to swim the English Channel.

[00:02:13] No, I'm saying...

[00:02:14] I wasn't asking.

[00:02:15] Please pass the bread.

[00:02:20] A woman.

[00:02:20] She won't get past the seventh male.

[00:02:22] I believe she'll die in that water.

[00:02:24] You know most men believe that we're too weak to compete.

[00:02:27] And what if I make it?

[00:02:28] Then they got a serious problem.

[00:02:33] The thing you love most, it terrifies me.

[00:02:37] I can't imagine if something happens to you.

[00:02:42] They're rooting against you, Trudy.

[00:02:45] They want the water to win.

[00:02:48] I came all this way.

[00:02:49] Might as well see England.

[00:02:51] All right, everybody.

[00:02:51] You were just listening to the trailer for Young Woman in the Sea, and the story is as follows.

[00:02:57] The story of competitive swimmer Trudy Ederle, who in 1926 was the first woman

[00:03:02] to ever swim across the English Channel.

[00:03:05] The film is starring Daisy Ridley, Tilda Cobham Hervey, Stephen Graham, Kim Bodnia,

[00:03:11] Sian Clifford, Christopher Eccleston, and Glenn Flesher.

[00:03:15] It is directed by Joaquim Roening and written by Jeff Nathanson.

[00:03:20] Here to join me today for this podcast review, I have Emma Sasek.

[00:03:25] Hey, everyone.

[00:03:26] And Dan Baer.

[00:03:28] Still not over the fact that I did not recognize Christopher Eccleston with that mustache.

[00:03:34] Uh, it's funny you say that because I instantly recognized him, but then he opened his mouth.

[00:03:43] It was literally sitting there at the end of the movie and his name pops up in the credits.

[00:03:46] I'm like, Eccleston was in this?

[00:03:48] Where?

[00:03:49] Who does he?

[00:03:50] Come on.

[00:03:50] You knew it was him.

[00:03:51] No, I did.

[00:03:52] And then I was thinking of going through and I'm like, oh my god, it's the freaking mustache guy.

[00:04:00] I was very upset with myself.

[00:04:03] One thing that is recognizable, though, is that this movie has had quite an interesting journey.

[00:04:08] It was originally supposed to go straight to Disney Plus, which on the surface, and I remember when

[00:04:13] the trailer dropped for this too, I thought it was a Disney Plus film.

[00:04:17] It was sort of in its own way marketed as such.

[00:04:20] But this is a movie that's produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, who for the first time in a long

[00:04:27] time or maybe ever, I'm going to actually go in depth into in this review here because

[00:04:32] there is some secret sauce at work.

[00:04:34] This movie had the highest test screening responses from their test audiences that I

[00:04:40] believe Bruckheimer said they ever have had, and as a result of which that gave them the confidence

[00:04:45] to push for this to get released theatrically.

[00:04:48] Now, Disney is not necessarily still going full force with this.

[00:04:51] They're releasing it in limited, but I decided to check this out mostly because I kept hearing

[00:04:57] positive word about it, not just from those audience test reactions, but then when those

[00:05:00] initial screenings for critics started happening, and I talked to Emma about this.

[00:05:05] I was initially going to skip it.

[00:05:06] I figured, oh my God, I just got back from Cannes.

[00:05:08] I'm exhausted.

[00:05:10] But I decided to make this my first screening back, and my God, am I glad that I ever did

[00:05:16] because this movie just reminded me so much of the classic live action inspirational sports

[00:05:22] dramas of something like Remember the Titans, which was also produced by Jerry Bruckheimer,

[00:05:27] or even like a Cool Runnings.

[00:05:29] And so now, Daisy Ridley at this point in her career has this biopic, which has drawn

[00:05:37] unfairly or not comparisons to last year's NIAID.

[00:05:41] And I will admit, I'm one of those fans of it up front.

[00:05:46] I'll confess, I really, really enjoyed this quite a bit.

[00:05:49] But let's hear from everyone else.

[00:05:50] Emma, it's your review that's up on the website.

[00:05:52] What did you think of Young Woman in the Sea?

[00:05:55] What's funny is Matt did ask me, should I go see it?

[00:05:57] And I kind of, she was like, fine, just catching it later on at some point in the year.

[00:06:02] I'm glad I did not take your advice.

[00:06:05] I know.

[00:06:05] I was really surprised that you really, really liked this as much as you did.

[00:06:09] But I'm glad you did.

[00:06:10] Yes, I had the opportunity to review this.

[00:06:13] And at first, I don't know, I just kind of thought, maybe it'll just be like a lot of

[00:06:20] other films that just kind of go by the wayside.

[00:06:23] It's a fine film.

[00:06:24] But I did really enjoy it.

[00:06:26] I enjoyed that inspirational aspect to it because, I mean, being the first woman to

[00:06:32] swim across the English Channel is just an inconceivable feat in my mind.

[00:06:40] Being the first any person to swim that stretch of water, 21 miles straight across, is just

[00:06:47] crazy to me.

[00:06:48] So it was very interesting to learn a little bit more about Trudy Ederle saying how

[00:06:54] she suffered as a child from measles, how that carried her through her entire life with

[00:07:00] her hearing, but how she continued to persevere past all of that and just wanting to swim.

[00:07:09] I get it.

[00:07:09] I like swimming too.

[00:07:11] Maybe not to this extent.

[00:07:13] But I get it.

[00:07:15] I get that passion that you have for something.

[00:07:17] And I really enjoyed watching Daisy Ridley in this role.

[00:07:21] She was charming.

[00:07:23] There was plenty of humor given to her.

[00:07:26] But also that determination and that grit and perseverance always shines through.

[00:07:32] I definitely did think of Nya quite a bit in this film.

[00:07:36] But also before there was Diana Nya, there was Trudy Ederle who did this like almost 100,

[00:07:43] I guess technically almost 100 years ago at this point.

[00:07:47] And certainly decades before Diana did.

[00:07:50] So it's nice to see these long forgotten, their names have been kind of lost to the

[00:07:59] past heroes come back and shine in films such as this.

[00:08:04] I definitely did not know Trudy Ederle's name right away.

[00:08:09] I knew that there was a woman who swam the English Channel, but I did not know that name

[00:08:14] right away.

[00:08:14] So it was very nice to dive into this.

[00:08:17] I enjoyed the supporting cast in this film.

[00:08:20] A lot has been discussed about the score in this film and just how, you know, sweeping

[00:08:25] it is with its orchestral string section and how it really keeps the momentum of the film

[00:08:30] going up and down like all the waves that she has to traverse through.

[00:08:35] So it was a really nice film.

[00:08:38] I do have some issues with, you know, some of the weird changes that they decided to make.

[00:08:44] I understand it's for dramatic effect.

[00:08:45] But for some of them, I just kind of thought, I don't know, they're still they're trying

[00:08:49] to sell her short, even though she's still accomplished so, so much, despite some quote

[00:08:56] unquote times of defeat.

[00:08:58] And of course, there are cliches in a film such as this.

[00:09:01] But I think overall, this was a very, very swimmingly fun film to watch.

[00:09:07] All right, Dan Baer, how about yourself?

[00:09:11] So when I describe this movie as a throwback, I mean it in the best possible way.

[00:09:20] This movie could have been released almost exactly as is at pretty much any point in

[00:09:28] the past 50 to 60 years and been like exactly the same.

[00:09:33] And the thing is, studios like Disney used to release movies like this multiple times

[00:09:43] a year, like tens of these a year.

[00:09:46] You know, movies that are very handsomely mounted, usually period pieces, but have

[00:09:55] this core of well-meaning, inspirational, all four quadrant family entertainment.

[00:10:04] But not something that you would have to take your whole family to go see.

[00:10:10] And I really kind of miss those kind of movies.

[00:10:14] And I didn't realize how much I miss them until you get something like this that reminds

[00:10:21] you just like, oh yeah, we used to have these movies that maybe weren't great, but were

[00:10:28] solid.

[00:10:29] And they're little movies, but they're intimate and they're made with a lot of care and a

[00:10:38] lot of passion.

[00:10:39] And that is really what elevates them above the sort of clichéd nature of their storytelling.

[00:10:46] It's really sad to me that we don't get a lot of these, they used to call them like

[00:10:51] programmers, you know, just like things that the studio could pop out very quickly and

[00:10:56] cheaply but still be made well.

[00:10:59] And I really miss that time of moviegoing where these movies were happening more regularly.

[00:11:07] But we are not in that era anymore.

[00:11:10] But this is so well done.

[00:11:11] It's just so many lovely little grace notes throughout with in terms of the performances

[00:11:17] and certain shots.

[00:11:20] One of the things that really struck me was how Trudy's mother would see from their

[00:11:26] kitchen window all the other households in the neighborhood listening to the radio at

[00:11:31] certain points, listening to Trudy swim.

[00:11:34] And it just said so much about the community and what her feet meant to people at that

[00:11:43] time.

[00:11:43] And it's just such a little thing that tells so much.

[00:11:46] And the movie is full of things like that.

[00:11:49] And I really, really enjoyed it.

[00:11:52] Yeah, so as I was saying earlier, I was not expecting to enjoy this nearly as much as

[00:11:57] I did.

[00:11:58] And it's true.

[00:11:59] Emma, basically when I asked her opinion, she was like, you can stay home.

[00:12:03] And I thought to myself, OK, I probably can.

[00:12:06] But I got nothing going on tonight.

[00:12:08] I have the opportunity to watch this.

[00:12:10] And I kept seeing everyone saying this is better than I expected.

[00:12:14] This is pretty fantastic.

[00:12:15] And so I was like, you know what?

[00:12:16] I would really like to be one of those people right now.

[00:12:20] Sure enough, I think for me, the thing that separated this and made this work was a combination

[00:12:28] of things.

[00:12:29] One, I think Daisy Ridley is pretty fantastic here.

[00:12:33] Accent aside, I do think it gets a little wobbly at times.

[00:12:37] She has such an endearing, charming quality about her that shines through effortlessly

[00:12:43] in this.

[00:12:43] And then also, there's a steely determination to her that whenever you're watching any kinds

[00:12:49] of inspirational sports dramas, you inherently do need to convey.

[00:12:54] But also, I just thought her dramatic work, while not the most well-written movie, like

[00:13:00] everything is so on the nose and it's all very surface level.

[00:13:05] You know, I do think she hits those emotional beats exactly as she needs to, to elicit the

[00:13:12] right kind of emotion from the audience.

[00:13:14] I never once cried watching this movie, but I've heard reports of other people crying

[00:13:19] and I can understand how they would get to that point here through her work.

[00:13:24] Beyond that, I was mostly taken by the score for this film by Emilia Warner.

[00:13:32] I mean, I'll get into details in a little bit here, but I think overall, when I think

[00:13:39] about my feelings towards this movie and the perception of it, I think that was probably

[00:13:44] the number one driving force that got me so sucked into what seemed like an impossible

[00:13:50] challenge.

[00:13:51] The rousing power of being able to achieve something that many people seem to believe

[00:13:59] you can't do for physical reasons or even politicized reasons, everything that this

[00:14:06] movie was throwing at Trudy as far as any form of adversity, like that score just goes

[00:14:13] such a long way in properly conveying the triumph of it all.

[00:14:19] You know, this movie is extremely predictable.

[00:14:22] You know where it's going pretty much every single scene, but yet there's such a, as

[00:14:29] you said Dan, like classical throwback quality to it that just feels nostalgic at this point.

[00:14:34] I know that these types of movies have never like officially gone away, but it's so rare

[00:14:42] to see one that just works across the board.

[00:14:46] And I say this like across the board, like you know, this movie's not perfect, but I

[00:14:51] mean it's either just barely doing enough or it is far and above exceeding what it needs

[00:14:59] to.

[00:15:00] And when I say far and above exceeding, I do think Emilia Warner's score is one of

[00:15:04] those elements.

[00:15:05] So overall, yeah, I was quite taken by this movie.

[00:15:08] I was moved by it, not to tears, but definitely getting a lump in my throat and wanting to

[00:15:15] fist pump the air once it was all over.

[00:15:17] And I stayed through the credits the whole way through because I just could not get

[00:15:21] enough of the music of this movie.

[00:15:23] I left the theater as soon as the lights came up in the room.

[00:15:27] So make of that what you will.

[00:15:30] I will say with that score, you know, despite it obviously following like all of the changing

[00:15:36] tides in her life and the disappointments, the sexism, the obstacles that she faced,

[00:15:43] I do like how there's always like optimism in that score too.

[00:15:47] Like the strings as they're like going up the scales, especially the violins as they're

[00:15:52] leading these sections.

[00:15:54] Like there's always like something fun, like a pep in their step.

[00:15:58] And I feel like that perfectly describes Daisy Ridley's role in this film too.

[00:16:04] The two work very well together.

[00:16:37] Yeah, you know, I was talking to a friend about this the other night about how it feels

[00:16:44] like such a rarity nowadays to hear a film score that is relying more so on orchestral

[00:16:51] and strings to convey emotion because I feel like most modern film scores are done in

[00:16:57] the computer with synthesizers and just have a very heavy electronic sound to them.

[00:17:03] And I like this in a lot of cases.

[00:17:05] I mean, Dune Part Two and Challengers are two of my favorite scores from this year.

[00:17:10] But this kind of a score evokes for me the fondest memories I have of like a classic

[00:17:18] Hans Zimmer type of score.

[00:17:20] Like, you know, like, what was the movie I was thinking of so much?

[00:17:23] Top Gun Maverick.

[00:17:24] I was thinking of Top Gun Maverick a lot while watching this movie.

[00:17:27] And you know what I was thinking of?

[00:17:29] I got like a little bit of like Pirates of the Caribbean.

[00:17:33] There were like some undertones from that score that like reminded me as I was listening to this

[00:17:38] one, which makes sense, I guess, the nautical theme.

[00:17:41] Not only that too, but both films produced by Jerry Bruckheimer.

[00:17:44] Yes, exactly.

[00:17:46] There had to have been like some sort of a mandate of make it more Zimmer.

[00:17:51] Make it a little piratey.

[00:17:53] Yeah, like get the adrenaline pumping in some of these scenes.

[00:17:56] And, you know, I really, really liked that it conveyed a sense of danger and triumph.

[00:18:04] And it's just really like motivating music during some of these more thrilling scenes

[00:18:10] of her swimming.

[00:18:11] But then on the other side of this, it then evoked the fondest memories I would have of

[00:18:17] James Horner's music and how in the more emotional moments where the choir especially would come in,

[00:18:25] this like almost awe inspiring sense of wonder and sadness.

[00:18:31] And yet there's also like, it's like mixing elegance with epic, in my opinion, and makes

[00:18:38] it sound so much more grander than what you would think it would be.

[00:18:42] And so I was just God, I've been listening to this score nonstop since I saw the movie.

[00:18:47] I can't stop.

[00:18:48] It's so emotional to me and how it not only like calls back to, you know, like I said,

[00:18:55] the types of film scores that got me in love with not just scores in general, but also movies.

[00:19:02] But also like some of these legendary composers.

[00:19:05] I mean, hey, as a violinist myself, I'm always happy to hear an orchestra in a score because

[00:19:11] there is nothing.

[00:19:13] There's nothing that evokes more emotion to me than a string section.

[00:19:17] Maybe I'm biased, but there's just something in those four strings that each of those

[00:19:21] instruments have that just tugs at my heartstrings.

[00:19:25] And when was the last time you can say that you really felt that?

[00:19:29] In watching a movie?

[00:19:30] Yeah, I guess it's been a long time.

[00:19:33] It really has been.

[00:19:34] I mean, I used to I used to absolutely love and I still do love the Harry Potter scores

[00:19:38] because a lot of those were also very heavy on the string sections and like the moments

[00:19:45] when you needed them the most, the violins would just be like piercing through.

[00:19:49] What do you think of all this, Dan?

[00:19:51] I feel like the score is sort of representative of the movie in miniature.

[00:19:57] Like it's not anything new exactly.

[00:20:03] It's kind of cliched even, but it's done so well that it works.

[00:20:12] But do you also think that there is that feeling of

[00:20:17] you just don't hear scores like this that often nowadays or so prevalently?

[00:20:22] I don't know about that.

[00:20:23] I'm kind of with you.

[00:20:24] Like it reminded me a lot of James Horner's scores.

[00:20:29] I was specifically thinking of Titanic a lot, a little bit of Avatar and some other movies.

[00:20:36] But yeah, I don't know.

[00:20:37] I feel like we get scores that get me going in this way every once in a while,

[00:20:45] maybe not as regularly as we used to.

[00:20:47] But I feel like we get scores like this more often than we get movies like this.

[00:20:50] I'll say that.

[00:20:52] That's fair.

[00:20:53] That's fair.

[00:20:54] And going back to the movie itself then in that regard,

[00:20:57] I thought the second half of the movie was far stronger than the first half.

[00:21:01] And I say this because the first half was pretty much like everything that I

[00:21:05] both expected it to be and also was sort of dreading where almost every scene is just

[00:21:11] hitting its message so firmly on the head in terms of you're a woman in an oppressive time

[00:21:19] and this is what you're supposed to do.

[00:21:22] And every scene just has like this quality to it of you're supposed to get married to

[00:21:28] who I say you're supposed to get married to.

[00:21:31] I'm going to let you swim because your mother just wants you to be safe.

[00:21:34] But if you want to make a career out of that, no,

[00:21:36] you're not supposed to do that because you're a woman.

[00:21:37] And I just kept thinking, okay, like if the whole movie is going to be this blunt and this

[00:21:43] forceful in its messaging, like it's going to lose me pretty quick.

[00:21:46] I mean, okay, I don't disagree about how blunt it is, but it has such personality to it.

[00:21:53] Well, the personality I think comes through in Daisy Ridley.

[00:21:56] Yeah.

[00:21:57] Yes, Daisy Ridley very much, but also the actress who plays her mother.

[00:22:03] Oh yeah.

[00:22:03] Yeah, Jeanette Hain who plays her mother.

[00:22:07] I thought she was so spectacular.

[00:22:10] She's very reserved in that Eastern European way, but she has this backbone of steel.

[00:22:18] And when she has made her decision, that is final and everyone knows it and no one will

[00:22:25] talk down to her.

[00:22:26] I think it's really smart playing of the power that women did have at this time

[00:22:34] if they chose to take it for themselves and how that leads into Trudy's character arc

[00:22:42] of how she becomes a more independent woman.

[00:22:45] Yeah, she's very diplomatic about how she asserts herself.

[00:22:49] And it's just so entertaining when she tells her husband, the girls are taking swimming lessons.

[00:22:57] And he's like, well, our son is, Henry is.

[00:22:59] And she's like, no, the girls.

[00:23:02] Yeah, I am always enjoying films about women.

[00:23:07] And I like the dynamics between a lot of the women here, obviously with Trudy, we see her

[00:23:14] become that stubborn go ahead woman.

[00:23:18] As Dan is talking about her mom, love this woman.

[00:23:22] She is very reminiscent of the Eastern European women in my life who put their foot down and

[00:23:29] good luck to you if you try to stand up to them.

[00:23:32] And it's always very fun to see that dynamic between her and Henry, Kid Bodnia's character

[00:23:39] who he is like, I don't know, I just love how he's like, I'm the patriarch.

[00:23:44] What I say goes, except when he tells me something that never mind.

[00:23:49] And then later on, it's except when my daughter tells me something then never mind too.

[00:23:54] So I did enjoy this family's dynamic.

[00:23:57] And of course, the sister, Margaret, played by Tilda Cobham Harvey.

[00:24:02] And it was just a really fun, good feel among the family.

[00:24:08] And again, sometimes we don't really get that I, again, I'll think back to Nyaad.

[00:24:14] And it was just kind of the focus on Diana Nyaad and her pal, her coach.

[00:24:21] But you don't get to see like, the other relationships like aside from the people who

[00:24:26] just involved in the swimming aspect here, you do get that full family view and all around view of

[00:24:34] the people who shaped Trudy to be who she is.

[00:24:37] Yeah, the film's emphasis, especially on sisterhood, I think is really, really strong

[00:24:42] here.

[00:24:42] Because when Trudy comes to the forefront, and Meg gets pushed into the background,

[00:24:49] the screenplay does still find ways to make Meg's connection with Trudy,

[00:24:55] the beating heart of the film, and pulls it all together by the end very, very nicely.

[00:25:01] In my opinion, I don't know if it was as strong as what Annette Bening and Jodie Foster did in Nyaad.

[00:25:09] But it still was very effective.

[00:25:11] I did have some issues with the way the parents were handled in the second half of the film.

[00:25:16] Because I felt like her father, all of a sudden just undergoes like this change of heart.

[00:25:24] And, you know, I did feel like that sort of came a little out of nowhere to me, it almost felt

[00:25:31] like it should have been the movie had probably set up for the mother to be in that role instead.

[00:25:38] And also then to, you know, the only thing I had a problem with regarding Trudy's mother

[00:25:43] in the second half of this movie was she storms her way into like a radio station.

[00:25:47] I love that so much.

[00:25:50] And I understand, I get it. It's entertaining, and it speaks to the character and all the

[00:25:54] qualities that we've been describing about her. But at the same time,

[00:25:57] I just couldn't help but think to myself, this just wouldn't be allowed.

[00:26:03] In the 1920s, I could see it. I could see it in the 1920s.

[00:26:06] Yeah, okay.

[00:26:07] Like social rules were more relaxed, security is not what it was. And Alex Hassel, come on!

[00:26:15] Listen, listen, nobody is interrupting any one of my interviews. You are not,

[00:26:22] I don't care Eastern European or not, you are not getting in my interview space.

[00:26:26] I do like how she's just like, I'm sick and tired of your updates. I'm sitting

[00:26:30] right here when you get the telegraph and you're gonna read it.

[00:26:33] You let us know too late!

[00:26:37] It's fantastic. The emotion on her face throughout that sequence whenever we flash

[00:26:42] back to her and that room, it's so wonderful to watch. And again, is it cliche? Yeah,

[00:26:51] absolutely. It hits all the beats that you expect it to hit exactly when you expect it to hit them,

[00:26:57] and more or less exactly how you would expect it to hit them. But for me, every single emotional beat

[00:27:08] landed. Like you, Matt, I didn't cry during this, but I did start to get teary-eyed near the end.

[00:27:16] And I could see people being emotionally moved to tears absolutely by this. And I think the family

[00:27:24] dynamic is a large part of that because we see most of the obstacles that Trudy has to overcome

[00:27:34] really don't seem to be physical, at least in this movie. She pretty quickly becomes the fastest

[00:27:42] woman swimmer in the world. And when she decides to swim the English Channel, correct me if I'm

[00:27:49] wrong, but they didn't really even say how long she spent training for that swim.

[00:27:57] No, this movie makes it pretty perfectly clear that despite how grueling the overall challenge

[00:28:04] might be for any person out there in general, the movie I think does everything it can to show us

[00:28:10] that she is more than capable of doing it. It's all these external factors that get in the way.

[00:28:18] And they do change quite a bit in terms of that final swim because in real life,

[00:28:24] she had her first attempt, which was not successful. And then she went back and she

[00:28:31] trained for a whole year before going back again. Here it's quite altered in the film itself.

[00:28:37] Yeah, yeah. I mean, they have to like go out of their way to show Christopher Eccleston,

[00:28:42] who's playing her trainer and somebody who attempted to swim across the English Channel

[00:28:48] himself but never successfully did it undermine her at every single point and not give her

[00:28:54] the proper support and training that she would need to complete this. And so

[00:28:59] whether it's out of jealousy or spite or sexism, whatever you want to chalk it up to,

[00:29:04] he's the reason that she does not succeed in that first swim. I don't have a problem with this

[00:29:09] because it is definitely more dramatic. It helps to give the film a face to the villainy of the

[00:29:15] times. Christopher Eccleston, I will never argue against seeing him on screen in any capacity.

[00:29:21] So like, yeah, from a historical inaccuracy standpoint, like I understand, but at least

[00:29:27] the core crux of she attempted, she didn't make it. And if the film wants to overindulge a little

[00:29:34] bit to just kind of help fervor push its themes of feminism in these oppressive times, I'm okay

[00:29:41] with that. I do understand that. And like, that's fine for the most part. But you know, the one

[00:29:46] part where they show her going to the Olympics, and they basically portray her as like,

[00:29:51] a total failure in that part. I kind of took some problem with that because,

[00:29:57] you know, she won bronze medals, which is nothing to scoff at. Like that's,

[00:30:02] that is a huge accomplishment. And they do show her on the podium, but they don't like

[00:30:07] say that she actually won anything. Yeah, it's weird. And then they just don't mention the fact

[00:30:12] that she was part of a relay gold medal winning team that also set a world record during that

[00:30:19] Olympics. So I'm just like, why did we not mention this? Like this is this shows that this woman is

[00:30:25] incredible. So that part I just thought was a little strangely done. Again, I understand it's

[00:30:31] for that dramatic emphasis and to show that, you know, maybe maybe this is where Trudy kind of

[00:30:37] starts to falter a little bit and lose confidence in herself before she ultimately bets on herself

[00:30:43] again. But I just kind of thought, well, I mean, we don't need to really put her down that much.

[00:30:48] Well, I would argue it's tough. This is always complicated, I think, because I think if you ask

[00:30:55] any studio executive out there, and I'm sure this is, you know, maybe even a direction from someone

[00:31:00] like Bruckheimer, you know, you do need to present obstacles in front of your character,

[00:31:06] if you present them too strongly, then it is going to lose that dramatic tension and release

[00:31:13] that cathartic release that you get at the end when they finally do achieve what they've been

[00:31:18] setting their eyes upon. And so I can understand just from a dramatic storytelling purpose, why

[00:31:26] we continue to do it, why it has always worked. On the other hand, I do like I sympathize. I'm

[00:31:33] get it. Like, this is a very remarkable woman who had many achievements. And I, you know,

[00:31:39] I understand wanting to capture that I will say though, that in failure or in in light of not

[00:31:45] like capturing that, to me at the at the minimum, even without knowing that information on it on

[00:31:52] the on the detailed level like that, I would still argue that they at least captured the essence of it

[00:31:57] and still conveyed to me everything I just fundamentally needed to know except for one

[00:32:02] thing. One thing did this, this is one thing that really did bother me actually, at the end of the

[00:32:08] movie, during the closing titles, they mentioned that she eventually would go deaf and that she

[00:32:14] would go on to teach deaf kids how to swim. Why then was the hearing aspect not emphasized more

[00:32:22] throughout this movie, I kind of almost felt like that came not so much out of nowhere,

[00:32:27] because I understand it like properly started back when she had the measles when she was younger,

[00:32:32] but then why not like incorporate that into the story more.

[00:32:35] The only time that it really was mentioned was when she wanted to start swimming and her parents

[00:32:41] were like, but you're hearing it'll go worse. And that was it. And then, yeah, and then she

[00:32:46] just continues doing it for like decades and decades and decades. Yeah, that was a very

[00:32:50] interesting weird move. Because what I would say in that case is if you can convey that,

[00:32:55] first of all, it introduces the ability to have the sound designers have some fun with the movie

[00:32:59] a little bit. But then also to it's another obstacle that she has to overcome. Of course,

[00:33:05] yeah, it's a little weird. Like, you would think that they would have put that up more,

[00:33:09] even if it wasn't an issue for her until much later in her life. Like it's quite possible that

[00:33:17] her hearing loss didn't affect her at all. I didn't read up on her too much before seeing it,

[00:33:23] just a little bit. So it's quite possible that it just wasn't an issue for her. But yeah,

[00:33:28] it's a bit odd that like they didn't play that up a little more because so much of especially when

[00:33:35] she's making the swim is based on like her needing to hear the people in the boat to get food and

[00:33:42] Draeger a warning of what's ahead. So I don't know why they didn't play with that more,

[00:33:50] especially when like, I don't know, the whole thing about the Olympics felt a little like,

[00:33:56] I think it would have been perfectly in line with the story they wanted to tell and the thematic

[00:34:01] work about women at this time if they had been honest and like, look, yeah, we won a gold medal

[00:34:09] as a relay team. Like, well, sorry, ladies, not good enough. We need nobody. Yeah, we needed

[00:34:14] four gold medals. I mean, Johnny Weissmuller won more like, I think that would have been a moment

[00:34:22] and to show that you like, yeah, despite everything, despite not being able to train

[00:34:28] properly, they managed to still make the incredible happen. And that still wasn't enough. I think that

[00:34:39] would have been still resonant, if not more resonant even than what they did show.

[00:34:46] And I want to call attention really quick to another more prominent character actor,

[00:34:52] but someone who I just don't feel like gets mentioned enough for how fantastic he is.

[00:34:57] Stephen Graham.

[00:34:59] Yes.

[00:35:00] Not a showcase role or anything like that. But like Eccleston,

[00:35:03] I'm just so happy whenever I see him pop up in a supporting role,

[00:35:07] because I always know that he's going to deliver. He never chews up the scenery or calls attention

[00:35:13] to himself in such a way that it distracts from what the overall film is setting out to accomplish.

[00:35:19] He always just finds a way to fit in with the overall vision. And I actually wanted a little

[00:35:26] bit more because his character is introduced early, and then slowly incorporates himself

[00:35:33] more and more, especially into the second half of the film, that I was almost left wanting by

[00:35:38] the end of this. I was enjoying his dynamic with Trudy and Graham and Ridley, I thought,

[00:35:44] in the brief scenes that they had with one another, I felt like this movie could have used more.

[00:35:50] Yeah, he was just kind of like, lingering in the background, especially as she was

[00:35:55] starting her attempts on the shores of France. He was like, working on like a dock station or

[00:36:03] I don't really know, like a boat house, whatever. Yeah, he would always just kind of like pop in,

[00:36:09] pop out. And then finally, when she makes that second attempt, it's like, all right,

[00:36:13] finally, we get a little bit more, even though it is still kind of fleeing and passing since

[00:36:19] the focus is on her and her swim.

[00:36:22] Yeah, I really liked their dynamic together a lot. And I think seeing Graham is so much fun

[00:36:27] in that role. I mean, the scene when he is swimming in New York and comes out of the water

[00:36:38] completely naked is so funny. I had a ball whenever he was on screen. He's a lot of fun.

[00:36:48] Think of the travesty that that caused in the 1900s. Oh my god!

[00:36:52] I know!

[00:36:54] The scandal!

[00:36:54] The scandal!

[00:36:58] I also love the scandal of her bathing costume for the swim. Oh, the two-piece! My gosh!

[00:37:04] A little two-piece girl!

[00:37:05] Oh, scandal!

[00:37:08] It is kind of funny to like, think back on when you get a film such as this, where it is like,

[00:37:14] so far in the past, like we said, 100 years ago at this point, and you just think about

[00:37:19] how different life was and like, oh my god, a two-piece, like super long shorts and

[00:37:25] almost covering her entire midriff top. My god, children close your eyes!

[00:37:29] Well, and little things too, like how they talked about how she got those, you know,

[00:37:34] got some bruises from her swimming costume because of how they're all cut. And her sister's like,

[00:37:41] no, we're gonna fix that.

[00:37:43] We're gonna make a new one.

[00:37:44] I also just like the practicality too of how this movie opens up with them talking about a

[00:37:51] disaster at sea and how many women and children died because the women are not taught how to

[00:37:59] swim. And you think back to this time period and say to yourself, wow, yeah, like this is not

[00:38:07] like a fundamental part of people's lives growing up. Like this was a society break that a woman

[00:38:14] swimming was, you know, I mean, sure there were women swimmers, I'm sure here and there,

[00:38:20] but it was nowhere near the way it is now. And then they also like find a way to kind of tie

[00:38:25] this into, I guess, like women swimming, women voting, like, oh, we're giving more to women.

[00:38:34] I'm just like, okay, guys, like, calm down with the messaging a little bit. But at the same time,

[00:38:39] I did like that it started off like with this like practical reason.

[00:38:42] Well, I mean, hey, the women just got the right to vote like just a few years before like

[00:38:48] this swim happens. So like, that's where we are at in history.

[00:38:52] Absolutely. And I like the way that the movie ties it all together at the very, very end,

[00:38:57] discussing the impact that her performance accomplishment, whatever you want to call it

[00:39:03] had on female athletes just in general. And, you know, we talked earlier about when you're the

[00:39:11] first to do anything, you know, the immeasurability of that impact is something that I feel gets

[00:39:22] downplayed quite a bit. But at the same time, I feel that this movie properly illustrated for us

[00:39:29] like just how important something like this was for the time and how it led further into

[00:39:38] the progression of just women in sports in general, not just swimming. But you know,

[00:39:42] you can see how this would have a no pun intended ripple effect.

[00:39:46] And the film makes it very clear. I love the scene where the little girls come up to her when she's

[00:39:53] like leaning the windows of her father's butcher shop and saying like, I want to be, you know,

[00:40:00] swimmer because of you. Like my brother, I beat my brother in a race, but he said it didn't happen.

[00:40:07] And all those things are like, yeah, you can see exactly why she was a big deal,

[00:40:16] especially to little girls at this time. It gives a really full portrait of what life for women at

[00:40:22] all stages of their life was like during this time period. And I think that it's really impressive

[00:40:28] that it's able to do that in such an entertaining way and in such a way that like it doesn't feel

[00:40:35] like we're going to explain to you this time period in history now.

[00:40:42] Well, and you know, it was brought up just a little bit of ago, but you know, that incident

[00:40:46] where all those women and children died, I mean, it's just so sad to think one about,

[00:40:53] you know, women were just raised essentially to stay at home, raise children, take care of the

[00:41:01] home, satisfy their husbands. And like, that's it. Like I can't help but think of

[00:41:05] like all of the untapped potential and talent that was stifled because of society. And I'm happy to

[00:41:14] live in a world and time where I am able to do these things. Like if I wanted to start swimming

[00:41:22] across the Pacific Ocean, like I could, I don't know why I would, but like there's nothing that

[00:41:27] would physically stop me. You could do it, Emma, come on! Besides my own body. You heard it here,

[00:41:34] folks. I'm going to do it. I'm swimming to Hawaii. If Diana Nyad can swim to Cuba, you can do it too.

[00:41:42] But I mean, you know, it's just like, that's why these stories are important. And it's nice to go

[00:41:48] back to these times where you just think back to like your grandmothers, your great-grandmothers,

[00:41:54] like the people in your family who, you know, had that dream, but just couldn't do it because

[00:42:00] some man in their life told them that, nah, that's not where your place is. Your place is here or,

[00:42:05] you know, their fathers were not supportive of them and everything else. So yeah, I, of course,

[00:42:13] I, of course, I felt a little bit in my, in my heart. I didn't cry, but I did feel like I feel,

[00:42:18] I felt good after watching this one. All right, let's head on over now to final thoughts. Anything

[00:42:23] that we did not mention that you want to mention or something you want to reiterate? Dan, over to

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[00:42:59] plus terms and conditions apply. See website for details. Well, actually one thing that I do want

[00:43:04] to mention is that like, I really love the portrayal of the ticker tape parade at the

[00:43:10] end of the film. Biggest parade in NYC history? Yeah. So a friend of mine wrote a book called

[00:43:19] Everyone Loves a Parade, which is a guide to New York City's ticker tape parades.

[00:43:25] It was something that his father actually started working on before he passed away and then my

[00:43:29] friend finished it. And so I was able to go home and then look up all the info about

[00:43:36] Trudy Adderley's ticker tape parade in this book. And yeah. Wow. Yeah. She was also the first woman

[00:43:47] to receive a ticker tape parade, which is like really cool. I was pretty astounded by that when

[00:43:53] they said that because I was thinking to myself, wait a minute at the time. Sure. I can understand

[00:43:58] that being the biggest, but still to this day, the biggest I'm like, whoa. You just got to swim

[00:44:03] across. It was at the time, the biggest. Okay. Okay. That makes more sense. The movie made it

[00:44:10] sound like it's still the biggest of all time. And I was like, wait, no way. No, but something

[00:44:16] that was really interesting to me is that I also learned from my friend's book that one of the

[00:44:23] things that Trudy did after this was she got over a hundred thousand dollars in contracts to perform

[00:44:34] and just speak on the vaudeville circuit. And she even starred in a motion picture called

[00:44:41] Swim Girl Swim. I love her. She was the original influencer cashing in her checks.

[00:44:47] Yes. Miss Trudy made sure she got her bag. Okay. Good. I love it. But back to things about the

[00:44:56] actual movie. I love the look on her mom's face when they're watching the first swim race.

[00:45:07] And when Trudy starts to speed up near the end, you can watch her mother go like,

[00:45:14] oh, my God. She's actually doing it. And I was reminded when I was a kid, I was on the swim team

[00:45:24] for a couple of years. And my mom would always say that she never felt the exhilaration when

[00:45:31] she was watching a race and I started to pull ahead of the other people. And so this very much

[00:45:40] reminded me of that. And it was very, that was a moment for me.

[00:45:44] That's cute.

[00:45:45] I loved this exchange between Trudy's mom and dad, which says your daughter has the record.

[00:45:54] What record? She slams the blue ribbon down on the counter. World.

[00:46:00] Yeah. That was pretty good.

[00:46:01] Beautiful moment. Basically, like mama Ederly is an icon.

[00:46:07] I love her. Not swallowed, Trudy. Chased.

[00:46:13] That was good. I like that a lot.

[00:46:15] Yeah. I love when they're talking about the Olympics. They have a pamphlet on what to do

[00:46:20] when you're approached by a Frenchman. Hilarious. I love this movie. But something that is,

[00:46:28] I think, endemic to this kind of movies is that even the main characters, a lot of the

[00:46:35] character development is sort of surface level. And Benji, who's the one guy who tries to swim

[00:46:42] across the channel and when Trudy arrives, it's very, very mean to her. He does a really quick

[00:46:50] turnaround on Trudy in a way that I kind of feel that would not have happened so fast. And I think

[00:46:59] it would have benefited the film maybe to have him take a little longer to come around

[00:47:04] on her. Because it happens without her actually proving herself physically. And I feel like we

[00:47:13] missed a lot of that. Men tend to respect her for, I guess, speaking her mind or being herself. But

[00:47:24] there's not like a lot of these sports people in the film that you would think it would take

[00:47:28] them seeing her make these achievements to believe in her a little more. It takes a lot less than

[00:47:34] that. And I think that I could have used more on that front in the movie.

[00:47:39] I will say that it is a bit of give and take for me because on one hand,

[00:47:43] I love the pacing of this movie because of just how it fluidly just moves. On the other hand,

[00:47:51] so many dramatic beats or moments that I felt needed a bit more time to breathe.

[00:47:57] It just seemed to go by too fast. On one hand, it's like for the identity of crafting

[00:48:04] a Disney inspirational sports drama. It does exactly what it needs to regarding its pacing.

[00:48:11] To be a slightly better movie than what I'm going to ultimately grade it in the end,

[00:48:17] I think it needed to let those emotional beats rest just a little while longer, or maybe not give

[00:48:25] so much but not enough screen time to somebody supporting characters if you're not going to

[00:48:30] fully develop them more. Either way, like I said, it's a bit of give and take. And I think it will

[00:48:35] all just depend on what your expectations are heading in and having a fundamental understanding

[00:48:41] of what the movie is just attempting to do.

[00:48:46] Yeah, absolutely. I really love in the last sequence of her swim, how they really emphasize

[00:48:55] how black that water is, how she cannot see anything.

[00:49:03] One of my big gripes all the time, it's like, I've been led to believe by too many movies and

[00:49:07] TV shows that moonlight is the only light source that I need at night.

[00:49:10] No, it's not enough.

[00:49:12] Absolutely not.

[00:49:15] You need the brightest full moon that is right above your head for anything to be seen.

[00:49:22] And of course in movies, that's what characters always seem to get.

[00:49:27] The North Star is guiding me. It's so shiny.

[00:49:32] I really love that. And just one of those artistic choices made by the directors and

[00:49:39] cinematographers that it's a really simple, subtle choice, but it speaks volumes in the movie.

[00:49:47] The sequence where she has to swim through the jellyfish.

[00:49:51] Oh, yeah.

[00:49:52] Oh, man, I was gonna say, jellyfish making a comeback in cinemas in seven pounds.

[00:49:57] Yeah. I really felt the pain that she was feeling. And this is without the movie

[00:50:05] turning that into a horror sequence where we see it, we have a sting on the soundtrack every time

[00:50:11] she touched the jellyfish. It's just from the sheer intensity of the number of jellyfish in

[00:50:18] the water, Daisy Ridley's performance and really strong editing choices. This movie is proof that

[00:50:27] you don't need a lot of bells and whistles if you're able to get the solid foundations of the

[00:50:33] filmmaking right.

[00:50:34] I did feel at a certain point, I was like, that's so much jellyfish. I mean, like,

[00:50:40] too much because there's a part of me that was thinking, no, no, no, no, no, no, you should be

[00:50:44] dead. One of those would have would have stung you in the heart, like, no way. But at the same time,

[00:50:51] I do think what gets me through that is Ridley's performance. The way that she reacts to every

[00:50:57] time she's getting stung, she's screaming, but still pushing through the physicality of it all.

[00:51:02] And then I like that we do see, even though it's not horrific in its depiction, we do see some

[00:51:09] makeup effects afterwards to show.

[00:51:11] You can see the lashes on her back and her arms and her stomach and like,

[00:51:18] yeah, it hurts to look at even though it's not like, it doesn't look violent.

[00:51:25] I still think she should have died. Like, just not saying like, like, I want it to happen. I'm

[00:51:33] just saying like, if you show me that much jellyfish, like, I just I have a hard time

[00:51:38] wrapping my head around how any human being could survive that. That's all.

[00:51:42] And the very last thing I have to say about this movie is nuts.

[00:51:48] Oh, I thought that was so cute.

[00:51:52] All right, Emma, onto you.

[00:51:55] I guess I will just talk a little bit about Christopher Eccleston. Man, I despised this man

[00:52:03] in the film. Not him, but his character. Like the most jealous, vengeful man you could possibly have.

[00:52:12] Like, I know you're angry that it took you like 20 some attempts and you still couldn't swim the

[00:52:18] English channel, but like, don't take it out on somebody else. Like that. This man just boiled my

[00:52:25] blood so much, especially when we see what he like, he puts these sleeping pills or whatever

[00:52:32] in her tea. And yeah, that he just he just angered me so much. And I did love him listening to the

[00:52:39] broadcast later on in the film when he when they say she's done it, she swam and he like,

[00:52:44] destroys the radio that he's listening to. And yeah, I thought that was really fun.

[00:52:52] His Scottish accent was so, so strong.

[00:52:55] Yeah.

[00:52:57] I could not stop giggling in his first scene. I was like, wow, sir. Wow, you're leaning really

[00:53:05] hard into that. But it worked. It worked for the punch ability of that man's face.

[00:53:11] Yes, that's a perfect way to put it.

[00:53:13] Yeah.

[00:53:16] Also to shout out as well to Glenn Fletcher, great character actor who plays the

[00:53:24] what's his role again? He's like the head of the commission for something.

[00:53:27] Oh, yeah. The of the Olympic Committee, basically.

[00:53:31] Yes, yes, yes. Very punchable face.

[00:53:35] Very much so.

[00:53:37] Lots of men who deserve punches in this film.

[00:53:39] I guess I hoped for a little bit more with Sean Clifford's character. I mean,

[00:53:47] especially to work like the second half of the film. She's just kind of like,

[00:53:51] kick your feet girl. Like listening from her

[00:53:54] The random five second cutaways to her. I was like, did we really need this? Like love her but

[00:54:03] I'm gonna say something might get me in some deep water for this. But

[00:54:07] when this character was first introduced on screen, I had a brief moment where my brain just

[00:54:16] broke.

[00:54:17] No, no, no. How do I say this? I had a brief moment where I thought to myself,

[00:54:26] Oh, nobody told me Rebecca Hall was in this movie.

[00:54:28] Matthew.

[00:54:30] I recognized Pencilhead from Fleabag right away.

[00:54:40] Yeah, no, no, I did too eventually. But this this was distracting to me for at least the first

[00:54:46] 10-15 seconds. But at the same time, I agree with Emma, another character that

[00:54:53] is very strong in the first half of this movie, but then it feels like the screenplay just

[00:54:58] is struggling to figure out how do we make this character relevant in the second half?

[00:55:02] Yeah.

[00:55:03] Yeah, I was waiting to see her. How do I put this? I was waiting for the reveal of her

[00:55:12] heavy air quotes roommate at some point during the second half, like she was very much giving

[00:55:19] that energy. And we were constantly checking in with her like I wanted to see more of her life.

[00:55:26] I thought John Clifford was really great in the role and I wanted more of her energy

[00:55:31] throughout the movie.

[00:55:33] Boiler duty.

[00:55:36] Kick your feet, girl.

[00:55:43] And then I will just kind of finish off with like, I could just feel how cold that water was.

[00:55:50] And like when you see those gray skies surrounding her too, I mean, what a miserable time.

[00:55:56] Like, listen, I'm happy for Trudy. But my god gun to my head if you asked me to do something like

[00:56:03] this, I'd be like just pull the trigger. I'm not I'm not doing it. I'm not meant for this type of

[00:56:09] athleticism. Like I just cannot imagine how miserable that felt and good for her for being

[00:56:17] able to like walk on the surface. At the end. I did really like and this did happen way back when

[00:56:26] but when she made it to England, and they're like, we can't have you here without your passport. Like

[00:56:31] that actually did happen to her. And I thought that was the funniest thing.

[00:56:36] They play it off very funnily as well.

[00:56:38] Yes. But yeah, I will not be swimming the Pacific Ocean. I will backtrack on my previous

[00:56:46] attempt. I will not be doing it.

[00:56:49] I was like, if I can't see my feet at the bottom of the shallow water, I will not swim in it.

[00:56:54] Gosh, no, there's there's sharks and there's fishies and whales over there. I don't want to

[00:56:59] get swallowed up. Now, we don't want that for you either for the record.

[00:57:03] Thank you. Thank you. There was a pause there. And yeah, I I also don't think I need to hear ain't we

[00:57:11] got fun for a long time to since Trudy loves to sing this song over and over again.

[00:57:16] I love that so much. I love the sequence of her just singing it all the time. Perfect.

[00:57:22] Yes. I kind of I think I kind of felt like her father at a certain point with it. Not going to

[00:57:28] lie. Especially because I'm like, there's more to this song than just these two lines, you know.

[00:57:37] But that's okay. I did like how it once again brought Meg back into the story in the third act

[00:57:45] in a meaningful way. But yeah, little little little grading. And I think that that was also

[00:57:50] sort of the point to my final thoughts are, I have not seen sometimes I think about dying yet.

[00:57:59] But this is probably my favorite Daisy Ridley performance that I've seen since her work on

[00:58:05] the Star Wars trilogy. And I do think that she has gotten quite a bit of a bad rep,

[00:58:11] considering the divisive nature of those movies. But from what I've heard about her work,

[00:58:17] and sometimes I think about dying. And now with this, I like seeing her on a different trajectory

[00:58:23] here that is showcasing for people, her talent, her range, and that she is very capable still

[00:58:32] of leading a movie on her own. I think the moments where she's asked to be emotional,

[00:58:39] she properly nails it. She does the one tear streaming down the side of her cheek a bit

[00:58:45] extraordinarily well. Beautiful. Happens at least three times, I think in this movie,

[00:58:49] and she nails it every single time. Beyond that, I once again got to just shower praise upon

[00:58:57] Amelia Warner's score. I absolutely adore it. And it's not going to change the world,

[00:59:04] it's not going to make my top 10 at the end of the year. But as a pleasant surprise,

[00:59:10] this was definitely a highlight for me over the last couple of days. I don't know when the next

[00:59:16] film will come around that will do this for me, as we never know. But for now, I was very,

[00:59:21] very pleasantly surprised with this. And I think just in general, when you look at Jerry

[00:59:26] Bruckheimer's work as a producer, there is a consistency in terms of maybe not the overall

[00:59:33] quality of the movie, but there's a consistency in terms of what feelings you're going to experience

[00:59:40] when watching those movies. You know you're going to get something that's going to get your

[00:59:44] adrenaline pumping, you know you're going to get something that's going to be emotionally stirring

[00:59:47] to some degree. And I felt that here so, so much and I was looking back at, you know,

[00:59:54] his producing credits for Disney and it's like, this guy just knows how to make crowd pleasing

[01:00:00] hits. Whether it be something like what I was saying earlier, like Remember the Titans,

[01:00:05] or National Treasure or Emma Pirates of the Caribbean, like you were saying before,

[01:00:10] you know, there is a consistency here in crafting movies for the big screen that

[01:00:17] I'm very, very happy that Disney chose to put this in theaters. Not why it is limited,

[01:00:24] don't get me wrong, but at the same time, I'm glad that that quality that that sense of

[01:00:30] scale and big screen entertainment like found its way into theaters and not just straight to

[01:00:37] Disney Plus. So with that said, I'm going to rate this a seven out of 10. I'll tell you this

[01:00:43] right now if it had made me cry, I would have rated this an eight. In all honesty.

[01:00:49] I was so pleasantly surprised by this film. It's definitely cliched, it's predictable.

[01:00:54] It's got a lot of moments and make me roll my eyes but at the same time, it just has this

[01:00:58] throwback quality to it that Dan you were saying you feel like it could have been made at any time.

[01:01:03] Is that proof that it's timeless? I don't know. Time will only tell. But until then,

[01:01:10] I will say that it's one of the surprises of 2024 for me. Emma, what about you?

[01:01:15] In my review, I gave this a six out of 10. So not too far off from where you are. I am I'm willing to

[01:01:23] watch it again to see if it gets bumped up for me. But there are just, you know, a few things

[01:01:29] that kind of, I don't know. I didn't like the choices that were made and how some characters

[01:01:35] get buried here and there. But overall, still quite inspiring, a very lovely performance from

[01:01:42] Daisy Ridley. And I'm happy to see her kind of getting a really nice resurgence again.

[01:01:48] All right. And Dan?

[01:01:50] Yeah, I'm also at a solid seven for this movie. I really enjoyed it. And yeah,

[01:01:56] I've had some issues, but the things that it does well, it does so well that I'm

[01:02:03] willing to overlook those a little.

[01:02:06] And as far as the film's Oscar potential goes,

[01:02:09] oh man, I really, really, really want this score to somehow find its way into the conversation.

[01:02:17] No, like genuinely I do. I like and I feel like it should. I don't know guys like I'm sorry. I just

[01:02:27] I know it won't in my heart of hearts. I know this, but at the same time, I feel like this is

[01:02:33] the kind of score that we really should be pushing because I don't know about you guys.

[01:02:40] I just really miss this kind of classical sound that didn't rely so much on computers and like

[01:02:47] those kinds of sounds. You know, it's like I, I, this is just the kind of film score that got me

[01:02:55] in love with.

[01:02:56] Film scoring in general, you know.

[01:02:59] It's really funny to me. Like I feel like if this had premiered at TIFF or tell you right

[01:03:06] this fall, I think it could have had a chance and in that way, maybe I could see someone mounting,

[01:03:15] you know, a little campaign for the score and Daisy Ridley. But I think it's just way too,

[01:03:21] way too early in the year of a release for that.

[01:03:24] No, you're 100% correct. I know you are. This is only going to get like mentioned maybe by like

[01:03:30] the Hollywood music critics or something like that.

[01:03:35] Some obscure like critics group maybe but I agree at the same time. I would like to just put my foot

[01:03:42] down and say it's great. It's emotionally stirring. It fills me up with a mixture of positive emotions

[01:03:52] all around. I love it and I will be listening to it all year long.

[01:03:57] He's putting his damn foot down.

[01:04:00] All right, well that'll do it here for our review of Young Woman in the Sea. You know what,

[01:04:05] really quick, terrible title.

[01:04:07] Yeah.

[01:04:07] I'm not a fan.

[01:04:08] Yeah.

[01:04:08] Not a fan.

[01:04:09] And I know that's the name of the book too but like...

[01:04:12] Boo.

[01:04:13] There had to be something else you could have called this. You could have called it Queen

[01:04:17] of the Waves which was her, you know, the title that was bestowed upon her after this happened.

[01:04:24] That would have been something.

[01:04:27] It's like they put that in front of the test group and they go,

[01:04:30] this is about a mermaid? What does that mean?

[01:04:33] Yeah, I think that's the problem. You call something Queen of the Waves and then people

[01:04:36] are expecting it's a superhero movie.

[01:04:38] But like this, it's like, oh my God, I've accidentally found myself...

[01:04:43] It's such a bland title.

[01:04:44] I've accidentally found myself saying Promising Young Woman in the Sea like at least three times.

[01:04:49] And then the other day I was like, you know what, why don't we just expand upon this?

[01:04:52] Promising Young Woman in the Sea Inside.

[01:04:54] Oh no.

[01:04:55] That's the mashup that I want to see.

[01:04:58] Oh no.

[01:05:03] Emma, where can they find you on the internet?

[01:05:06] You can find this little Pacific Ocean swimmer, just kidding again, please,

[01:05:11] on Twitter at Emma underscore Sassick and Instagram and Letterboxd at Emma Sassick.

[01:05:16] Dan Bear.

[01:05:17] You can find me on Twitter at Dan Sedan, on film at Letterboxd and post at Dan Sedan.

[01:05:22] And you can find me at Next Best Picture.

[01:05:24] Thank you so much, everyone for listening to the Next Best Picture podcast.

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[01:05:51] And we will see you all next time.

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