Young Woman and the Sea

We've all seen biopics about infamous people whether they be stars, singers, presidents, and the like, but sometimes a biopic about someone who doesn't have tremendous notoriety can be equally satisfying. Case in point is the film, "Flash of Genius" about the man played by Greg Kinnear who invented the intermittent windshield wipers, and then there's "Life Itself", a documentary about Roger Ebert, and the autistic played by Dustin Hoffman in "Rain Man" to mention a few. Well, now we have "Young Woman and the Sea" about the first woman to swim the English Channel in 1926 played by Daisy Ridley. 

Trudy Ederle (Daisy Ridley) was an accomplished swimmer who was born to immigrant parents Henry and Gertrud Ederle (Kim Bodnia and Jeanette Hain) respectively in New York City in 1905. Through the steadfast support of her older sister, Margaret 'Meg' Ederle (Tilda Cobham-Hervey) and supportive trainers, Helen Wainright (Tessa Bonham Jones) and Bill Burgess (Stephen Graham) she overcame adversity and the animosity of a patriarchal society to rise through the ranks of the 1924 Summer Olympics swimming team in Paris and complete the staggering achievement--a 21-mile trek from France to England in 1926, who was the first woman to complete such a feat that most men could not finish. The support from her family, and her fellow swimmers gave her the motivation and strength in which to endure this seemingly impossible task. 

Others to round out the cast are Olive Abercrombie as young Trudy Ederle, Lilly Aspell as young Meg, Christopher Ecceleston as Jabez Wolffe, Ethan Rouse as Henry Ederle Jr., Velizar Binev as Doctor Weiss and Doc Butler as Uncle Jan. 

This was poignantly and compassionately directed by Joachim Ronning ("Bandidas" '06, "Max Manus: Man of War" '08, "Kon-Tiki" '12, "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales" '17, "Doomsday" (TV movie) '17, "Maleficent: Mistress of Evil" '19) plus TV and shorts. The way this filmmaker was able to extract the emotions of passion, compassion, heart and tenacity from his actors was perfection. His pacing and sequencing was also spot on as well. If you like his brand of directing, his "Tron: Ares" is in post production. It was equally penned incredibly well by writer Jeff Nathanson ("For Better or Worse" '95, "Speed 2: Cruise Control" '97, "Rush Hour 2" '01, "Catch Me If You Can" '02, "The Terminal" '04, "The Last Shot" '04, "Rush Hour 3" '07, "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" (story) '08, "New York, I Love You" (segment Brett Ratner) '08, "Tower Heist" '11, "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales" (story) '17, "The Lion King" '19), based on the book by Glenn Stout. Certainly with the plethora of experience that this writer has under his belt, it's no surprise that this script was penned as well as it was. The sequencing which was essentially presented as a flashback was formatted in a way that was cohesive, concise and tightly intertwined from scene to scene. And, considering the running time was close to two and a quarter hours long, it simply moved right along. I had never heard of this woman and by viewing this film, I am in awe of what she had to endure both physically and culturely. Surely Daisy Ridley as Trudy Ederle was stunning in her performance as was the supporting cast. 

This biopic is one that all should go to the multiplex and see this movie since it is about so much: survival, tenacity, strength, passion, compassion and finally redemption. It's a true story that is one where it will push its audience to get up and cheer for this amazing swimmer.

Out of 4 Stars: 4                                   Rated: PG                                           129mins.