I like Daisy Ridley anyway, so when I realized she’d been in a movie with Christopher Eccleston, I was interested in seeing it sooner rather than later. Then Ridley was a guest on the podcast Films to Be Buried With, where Brett Goldstein absolutely raved about the film. So I thought, “All right, looks like we’re doing this!”
Trudy Ederle isn’t one to let things stop her. Not a childhood measles infection, not the limited imagination her immigrant community holds for her future, and certainly not the sexist attitudes that surround her. She pushes herself to become a championship swimmer, excelling in competitions and even going to the Olympics. But Trudy has an even bigger prize in mind, and in 1926, she sets out to become the first woman to swim the English Channel.
The beats we hit here are familiar for any First Woman to Do X movie: a determined and independent heroine, lots of paternalistic naysayers, setbacks and pushing through self-doubt, leading to ultimate triumph. This one is a bit Disneyfied, and I’d bet it adapts its history pretty loosely. But it’s ultimately an enjoyable, uplifting film that does what it sets out to do.
The childhood flashbacks at the start of the movie give us a pretty clear picture of Trudy’s mettle. Because she survived measles as a kid, her parents are concerned about her health and don’t want to let her go swimming, so she incessantly plays the same song over and over on her guitar until they relent. Hee! As a teenager, she goes from being the slowest, most hopeless girl on her swim team to becoming a powerhouse, seemingly through sheer stubbornness and just refusing to quit.
She needs that kind of grit, because everywhere she turns, people are trying to hold her back. Trudy’s father, a German butcher, can’t picture a life beyond their Manhattan neighborhood, and he expects Trudy to fall in line and do the same. As she trains for the English Channel, the male athletes attempting the same brutal swim are rooting for her to fail. Even people on Trudy’s own team are invested in the notion that a woman is simply not capable of this feat. Her sister Meg probably puts it best when she says, “People…they don’t want us to be heroes. They don’t want us to be anything.” All this doubt and derision is another current trying to pull Trudy under.
Daisy Ridley does a nice job as Trudy—she’s fierce and determined, but she also likes to have fun. She enjoys making her doubters eat crow, even as it sometimes demoralizes her. I couldn’t figure out where I recognized her dad from, but he’s played by Kim Bodnia, Konstantin on Killing Eve. Sian Clifford (Claire from Fleabag!) plays Trudy’s swim coach Eppy, while Stephen Graham (who I saw most recently as Mr. Wormwood on Matilda) plays Bill Burgess, the second man to successfully swim the Channel. I’m not familiar with Tilda Cobham-Hervey, who plays Trudy’s Meg, but she’s excellent. Ridley and Cobham-Hervey have a wonderful dynamic together.
Christopher Eccleston plays Jabez Wolffe. He’s the women’s swim coach for the Olympics and is later tapped as Trudy’s trainer for swimming the Channel, over her protests. She’d prefer to stick with Eppy, which causes Wolffe to exclaim, “A woman, training a woman? Like a lion taming a lion!" That pretty much tells you everything you need to know about this guy.
Wolffe is an odd duck, a women’s swim coach who’s actively skeptical of women’s swimming potential. During his time with the Olympic team, he acts more as a chaperone than a coach, not letting the female swimmers train on the journey overseas because he’d rather “protect their virtue” than help them maintain their skills. Wolffe is an odious, ignorant, and at times ridiculous antagonist. He lectures the swimmers on reading an etiquette guide ahead of the Olympics—“Specifically chapter 2: ‘What to Do if You’re Approached by a Frenchman’”—and tries to put Trudy on an absurd diet ahead of her attempt at swimming the Channel, wanting her to watch her figure instead of put on muscle.
He's in no way an admirable character, and he’s written fairly broadly, but Eccleston gets the job done. It’s pretty satisfying to hate Wolffe.
Accent Watch
Scottish. Based on the vowels, I’m guessing it might be a particular regional Scottish accent, but I’m not sure where.
Recommend?
In General – I think so. It’s a nice film, equal parts entertaining and moving.
Christopher Eccleston – Maybe. It’s not a huge role, and Wolffe certainly isn’t enjoyable, but Eccleston plays him well.
Warnings
Thematic elements, mild language, a little drinking, and brief nudity (bare butt only.)
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