There are not many genres that tend to stir complete ambivalence, to the point where actively seeking out these films becomes more of a chore than an enjoyable experience. The inspirational sports drama genre is often seen as being one of the most divisive since the tendency towards hackneyed characters, cliched storylines and hokey emotions make them far from favourable to those who want something slightly more compelling. Usually, one needs to be a participant in the sport or at least an aficionado, to appreciate a lot of these projects, and for outsiders, it can be quite a dull experience. Perhaps it is biased, but sports films are not always as strong as they may appear. However, when we get down to the root of what makes them appealing and remove any notion that every work of cinema needs to be original and carry some sense of artistic integrity, it’s not difficult to understand why they can be very popular when done right. In their narrative feature debut, Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin, who previously directed the rousing mountain climbing documentaries Meru and Free Solo, the latter being the first moment the wider film community took notice of them, continue to craft cinema that panders to their love of sport. However, they slightly change direction and instead decide to explore the trials and tribulations of Diana Nyad, whose claim to fame was being the first person to swim from Cuba to Florida, which she first attempted during her heyday in the late 1970s, but only managed to achieve several decades later when she decided to attempt this perilous crossing at the age of 64, despite the protestations and warnings from nearly everyone around her. Not a particularly great film, but one that manages to be relatively effective if we take it for what it is, Nyad is a solid effort that manages to overcome a few small obstacles in favour of something quite compelling, granted we can overlook some of the more blatant flaws.

When it comes to a film like Nyad, it is important that the audience gets exactly what they expect, and it was not in the business of challenging conventions. There was very little reason to craft this film as anything other than a run-of-the-mill inspirational sports drama since it not only gave some sense of structure to the directors, who had never worked in narrative filmmaking until signing onto this film but allowed the film to have a much more consistent tone, rather than having to seek out revolutionary ways to tell a relatively simple story. A lot of the story is pulled directly from Find a Way, the memoir written by Nyad herself – and the fact that this is an adaptation of her book, rather than a broader examination of her career is important considering she is a slightly controversial figure when it comes to her achievements, many believing that she engaged in frequent embellishment, but that’s another matter entirely – and thus it is shown almost exclusively through her perspective. There is oddly enough merit in such a story to warrant a more simple approach, and rather than covering her earlier career, which was certainly storied and filled with memorable experiences (when we first meet Nyad, she is already flirting with the idea of retiring from her career as a sports journalist after having achieved just about everything she can), but rather one endeavour that would essentially define her, becoming the one accomplishment for which she seems to be the most proud, and appropriately so considering the difficulties she would have likely faced. The premise is straightforward, and it does follow a pattern that could be either frustrating for those who want a more interesting storyline, or riveting in how it shows the process of constantly pushing yourself to achieve something that is viewed as impossible. You could essentially find direct correlations between Nyad and just about every other inspirational sports drama, and it does very little to change our perception of the genre – those who adore these films will find value in Nyad, while those who seek more from these films will be left disappointed.

Casting the role of Diana Nyad was always going to be a slight challenge – there is certainly not a shortage of talented actors over the age of sixty that could play the part, but it needed someone with the necessary amount of grit and determination to take on the role. The film does warrant some praise for actually choosing age-appropriate actors since Hollywood tends to choose based on popularity long before they even think of casting people who fit the role. Annette Bening is a peculiar actor – undeniably gifted and certainly not obscure, but she has inexplicably been overlooked when it comes to some of the more interesting roles she could have played. Nyad is not the best example of her talents, nor was it ever going to be her defining role. However, it’s a solid part and she turns in a very good performance that feels honest and forthright, much more than the film seemed willing to explore. Joining her is Jodie Foster, who is surprisingly the highlight of the film, and who plays the part of Diana’s faithful friend and coach with extraordinary complexity. Both Bening and Foster are far better than the film that surrounds them, especially since they both seemed more willing to explore the more flawed sides of these characters, and it is wonderful to see such rich roles being given to older actors who prove that they are still at the very top of their craft. There are moments when we can see Bening trying to portray the titular character as someone whose shortcomings and sense of hubris were ultimately the cause of a lot of her problems, but the film diverts away from these moments far too quickly, and whether this was because it was afraid of portraying its main character as too much of a punchline, or because it just didn’t want to imply that she was not the valiant hero they wanted her to be remains to be seen. The two central performances in Nyad are quite strong, even if they struggle to carry the entire film, and as a result, we are left wanting a lot more from a story that could have benefitted from a more concise vision in terms of how the characters were defined.

Nyad is a film that so desperately wants to convey the sense that it is much deeper than it is, and it is clear throughout that the directors are trying laboriously to hammer in certain themes that show its supposed complexity, even though this film works the best when it is more straightforward. Regardless of how we feel about the story itself, there are ideas in this film that are certainly much more intriguing – Nyad’s story is inspirational not only because she overcame a seemingly impossible task, but that she did it at an advanced age, especially after being out of professional marathon swimming for three decades. There is nothing this film does in terms of exploring this idea that we couldn’t get from Nyad’s writing or the various publications and works written about her historical achievement, but it does make some parts of the film oddly riveting, even if only a few fleeting moments. The film does also relatively well in showing accompanying ideas like that of friendship (the companionship between Diana and Bonnie is the heart and soul of the film, and I wish more attention had been placed on this, at least in terms of their experiences in the past, which are much more interesting and would have brought more complexity to the performances of the two leads) and ageing, both of which are more compelling and add nuance to a relatively simple story. However, the search for deeper meaning in Nyad is a fool’s errand, since there is not much to be said about what this film achieves other than noting how it proves to be a relatively understated affair, and the avoidance of too many moments of over-the-top sentimentality is at least somewhat admirable, even if there are a few points where it feels like it is relying too heavily on a few cliches usually tethered to this genre. Ultimately, Nyad was always going to be a film about an underdog defying the odds and emerging victorious – we didn’t need to have any knowledge of who Nyad was to realize exactly how this film would end – and considering this seems to have been the intention all along, it seems somewhat appropriate, even if it is not, particularly groundbreaking storytelling.

Nyad is a film that doesn’t do much to change our perspective on the sports genre as one that is overly predictable and perhaps even slightly misguided in how it presents its material. It also doesn’t do itself any favours by positioning Nyad as an almost heroic figure, since we have come to learn that there is enough incredulity towards her supposed achievements that go entirely unaddressed in this film, making us wonder whether she did achieve everything that was used to promote her status as a legend in her sport throughout this film. However, this requires us to focus heavily on the details, and it could be argued that the idea behind this film was not to be an objective exploration of her career and supposed achievements, but rather a dramatic retelling, as told through Nyad’s perspective, and as a result we find that there are many opportunities to explore the circumstances surrounding her efforts to break a record. There are certainly a few moments where the film is quite entertaining (there are several instances of quirky, irreverent humour that help break the self-serious monotony, although not to the point where we can overlook some of its flaws), and once we can abandon the idea of watching a film that takes a critical stance when it comes to its subject, the sooner we can find that this is a solid film, one that may not be artistically resonant but is somewhat inspiring, granted we can overlook its cliched approach to telling the story. I’m not entirely sure what could have been changed, but a stronger writer and director could have emphasized some of the more challenging components of Nyad’s story without needing to resort to conventions quite as heavily. It will not shift our perceptions of the sports drama genre, so expectations should be appropriately tempered – but the overall experience is certainly not without its merits, even if they become increasingly rare.