Worth the plunge
New Zealand Listener|November 04-10 2023
Annette Bening shines as endurance swimmer.
Worth the plunge

NYAD
Directed by Jimmy Chin
and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi

Jodie Foster and Annette Bening bring their formidable talents to this frequently exciting depiction of American long distance swimmer Diana Nyad's greatest achievement and her devastating failures.

It's a fictionalised biopic of the real-life endurance athlete (Bening) known by just her single-syllable nickname. It begins in 2009 with the retired marathon swimmer, approaching her 60th birthday, grappling with what her legacy will be. "Where's the excellence?" she snaps at her long suffering best friend and trainer Bonnie (a wonderfully warm Foster). The answer lies in one body of water, unconquered: the 177km strait between Florida and Cuba, which Nyad had last attempted more than 30 years before.

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