Don’t expect the usual narrative arc for this surprising drama about an Olympics-aspiring swimmer navigating the choppy waters of adolescence
The talented athlete, the tough-love coach, the upcoming championship or tryout that will test the protagonist’s resolve. You know this story; you’ve seen it before. Providing any innovation in the highly templated sports movie is no easy task, but as writer-director Tyson Wade Johnston makes clear in his emotionally gripping swimming-themed coming-of-age film co-executive-produced by Ian Thorpe, the genre is evergreen so long as storytellers prioritise good drama over any achievement in the pool or on the field.
If you’re like me, you are not greatly moved by the feat of somebody shaving one hundredth of a second off another person’s freestyle record. But like in the 2016 TV adaptation of Christos Tsiolkas’ novel Barracuda, which also follows an Olympics-aspiring swimmer navigating the choppy waters of adolescence while pursuing greatness in the pool, Streamline has many things on its mind and never makes the mistake of insinuating that swimming is a measuring stick by which to assess a person’s worth.
Continue reading...from The Guardian https://ift.tt/3mU3cPY
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