Up front, I want to be honest with you. Yes, you. David Spade. I know you are reading my site. Actually, I don’t know that, but wouldn’t that be pretty cool? But in all honesty, I’m about to break some sacred rule of film criticism, but it is one I’m being honest about, and I feel like the thing in itself is a valid criticism.
I fell asleep.
It isn’t that this film is so terrible it put me to sleep, it was just dull. Nyad had just come out a few months prior, and managed to really make it feel like she wasn’t going to achieve the thing she historically achieved. Here, it always feels like Daisy Ridley will swim the English Channel. While the film does touch on her characters upbringing, and what life was like for a woman during this time period, and even some interesting looks at how news was reported, it is still a lot of swimming, and underdeveloped supporting characters.
So, yes, I fell asleep. To be fair, she was in the shallows and near land as the last thing I remember. So, there can’t have been that much left. She was so close, the boat couldn’t follow her anymore. it is rare that I doze off, and sometimes I wake back up. So here, what amounted to a Power nap was enough to finish the film. I’ve seen worse films this year, definitely. But, slow? I mean, can I give a positive grade to a film that put me to sleep? As much as I want Daisy Ridley to have a career, Disney put her in a film with the least inventive title, and buried it in a brief theatrical release before sending it to Disney Plus. I don’t think many people know what this is, and probably haven’t seen it.
I don’t know if critics i general avoid reviewing films they didn’t see from start to finish, but I’ve so rarely walked out of a film or stopped watching something at home, and I rarely doze off. If this was a bigger problem, and I was doing it during good films, I’d feel worse about it. But, i could feel myself fighting it, because I just wasn’t invested in the story.Daisy Ridley does a nice performance, but it is in such a deeply forgettable drama I’m not even sure Disney cares about.
Final Grade: C-