THE OLDER WOMAN AND THE SEA (NYAD)

© Netflix

Diana Nyad is something of an icon when it comes to marathon swimming.

In 1974 at the age of 26, she set a record in Italy at the Gulf of Naples race of eight hours and 11 minutes across 22 miles.

A year later, she came to national prominence in the US by swimming around Manhattan.

Four years later, the former squash player swam from The Bahamas to Florida in record time.

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However it is her determination in her sixties to complete a marathon swim without a shark cage between Cuba and Florida that drives 'Free Solo' directors Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin's Netflix movie 'Nyad'.

Starring Annette Benning as Nyad and Jodie Foster as her close friend and coach, Bonnie Stoll, it's a tale about gritty determination, self absorption and a desire to defy age.

From the off, Bening plays Nyad as a tunnel visioned, tough as old boots sporting icon who can't take no for an answer.

After turning 60 and having a party thrown for her by Bonnie, she has one itch left to scratch as a marathon swimmer - completing a 103 mile swim between Havana and Key West - and is determined to defy the ravages of time on her body.

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A minor media celebrity whose past feats have landed her guest slots on Johnny Carson's 'The Tonight Show,' she sets about assembling a team.

Rhys Ifans' captain John Bartlett is asked to provide a boat and help them plot a course through dangerous waters, noting if they don't hit the Gulf Stream right, she could be dramatically swept off course to Africa.

With Karly Rothenberg's Dee Brady, Ethan Jones Romero's Nico, Nadia Lorencz's Nadia and Luke Cosgrove's Luke Tipple also on board, the swimmer and her crew have to sit it out in rain sodden Havana for benign conditions to materialise for her 52 hour swim through the fastest moving body of water in the world.

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To the sound of cheering Cuban crowds, Nyad rather theatrically sounds a bugle before her swim before diving in.

However she is forced to reluctantly give up after 24 hours in a state of exhaustion because of the strength of the currents.

Her itch, however, won't go away.

Nyad simply refuses to admit defeat - undertaking more swims and coming unstuck thanks to jellyfish stings.

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She almost dies as a result of one encounter with a jellyfish and braves potential shark attacks and in one case stormy conditions in subsequent attempts.

Nyad's singular focus on completing the journey comes at a cost, though.

It tests the patience of both Bonnie and John Bartlett and it strains their friendships.

Nonetheless she somehow manages to persuade them to come onboard for a fifth attempt at the age of 64.

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Working from a screenplay by Julia Cox based on Nyad's memoir 'Find A Way,' Vasarhelyi and Chin's first feature length drama delves into Nyad's past to try to understand her psyche.

We learn as a promising young teenage swimmer, played by Anna Harriette Pittman, she was sexually abused by her coach, Eric T Miller's Jack Nelson.

That traumatic experience forged the hard headed swimmer in later life we see onscreen.

Diana's self-absorption and her inability to appreciate the sacrifices being made by others around her make her a difficult character to warm to.

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What could be a rather run of the mill sports drama is nevertheless elevated by its three leads.

Bening definitely gives her all in a performance lacking vanity.

Often sunburnt, puffed up and squinting with no make up, she revels in Nyad's shortcomings and gels well with Foster and Ifans.

Foster arguably steals the movie, though, as Bonnie who has to put up with a lot of nonsense.

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When Bonnie is feeling steely enough to give Nyad some harsh truths, Foster ensures you're rooting for her.

Ifans proves well up to the challenge of taking third billing.

Wisely, he avoids the temptation of turning Bartlett into a larger than life Robert Shaw-style sea dog.

The film is certainly all the better for his subtlety.

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Vasarhelyi and Chin deliver a robust, handsomely filmed feature about the triumph of the human spirit with the help of cinematographer Claudio Miranda and some well executed edits of real life footage of Nyad by Christopher Tellefsen.

However for all the strenuous effort the filmmakers go to to demonstrate Nyad's strengths and weaknesses, the film doesn't enchant.

In fact, it only bobbles slightly above average.

One problem is the dialogue which feels pretty perfunctory.

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The handling of Nyad's traumatic childhood experience also feels a little awkward and rushed.

What keeps you invested, though, in 'Nyad' is the performances.

Bending, Foster and Ifans make it watchable.

The film's a diverting two hours but it feels not as impactful as it should.

('Nyad' received its premiere at the Telluride Film Festival on September 1, 2023 and was made available for streaming on Netflix in the UK and Ireland on November 3, 2023)