''Swimming with Men'' is a 2018 British

sports Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to spectators. Sports can, ...

comedy-drama film starring

Rob Brydon Robert Brydon Jones (; born 3 May 1965) is a Welsh actor, comedian, impressionist, presenter, singer and writer. He played Dr Paul Hamilton in the Australian/British comedy series '' Supernova'', Bryn West in the BBC sitcom '' Gavin & Stacey'' ...

Jane Horrocks Barbara Jane Horrocks (born 18 January 1964) is a British actress. She portrayed the roles of Bubble and Katy Grin in the BBC sitcom '' Absolutely Fabulous''. She was nominated for the 1993 Olivier Award for Best Actress for the title role in ...

Rupert Graves Rupert Simeon Graves (born 30 June 1963) is an English film, television, and theatre actor. He is known for his roles in '' A Room with a View'', '' Maurice'', '' The Madness of King George'' and '' The Forsyte Saga''. From 2010 to 2017 he st ...

Daniel Mays Daniel Mays (born 31 March 1978) is an English actor. Early life Born in Epping, Essex, the third of four boys, Mays was brought up in Buckhurst Hill, Essex, by his electrician father and bank cashier mother. He attended the Italia Conti Acad ...

Thomas Turgoose Thomas Aiden Turgoose (born 11 February 1992) is an English actor, best known for his role as Shaun Fields in the film ''This Is England'' (2006), a role he reprises in the ''This Is England'' TV series '' This Is England '86'' (2010), ''This Is ...

, Jim Carter,

Adeel Akhtar Adeel Akhtar (born 18 September 1980) is a British actor. In 2017, he won the British Academy Television Award for Best Actor for his role in '' Murdered by My Father''. He was also nominated for a BAFTA for Best Supporting Actor for his role ...

and

Charlotte Riley Charlotte Frances Riley (born 29 December 1981) is an English actress. She is known for her roles as Sarah Hurst in '' Easy Virtue'' (2008) and as Catherine Earnshaw in ITV's adaptation of ''Wuthering Heights'' (2009). Early life and educatio ...

. It was directed by

Oliver Parker Oliver Parker (born 6 September 1960) is a British film director, screenwriter and former actor. He is known for writing and directing the film adaptations of Shakespeare's ''Othello'' (1995) and Wilde's ''The Importance of Being Earnest'' (2002) ...

. Screenwriter Aschlin Ditta based the script on the 2010 Swedish documentary ''Men Who Swim''.Swimming with Men review

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide ...

, Simran Hans, 8 July 2018

Plot

When accountant Eric (Brydon) seeks to win back his wife Heather (Horrocks), he stumbles upon a solution in the form of a male

synchronised swimming Synchronized swimming (in British English, synchronised swimming) or artistic swimming is a sport where swimmers perform a synchronized choreographed routine, accompanied by music. The sport is governed internationally by FINA (the ''Fédérati ...

team: Men Who Swim. Joining his local team, Eric finds brotherhood in this crew as they train for the World Championships in Milan.

Cast

as Eric Scott *

as Heather Scott *

as Luke *

as Colin *

as Kurt *

as Tom * Jim Carter as Ted *

as Susan *

Nathaniel Parker Nathaniel Parker (born 18 May 1962) is an English stage and screen actor best known for playing the lead in the BBC crime drama series ''The Inspector Lynley Mysteries'', and Agravaine de Bois in the fourth series of ''Merlin''. Early life Na ...

as Lewis * Luca Ribezzo as Italian Announcer

Production

The scenes from the championship competition were filmed at the 25 x 50 metre pool in Basildon Sporting Village.

Release

The film closed the Edinburgh International Film Festival on 1 July 2018. It went on general release in the UK on 4 July.

Reception

Peter Bradshaw Peter Bradshaw (born 19 June 1962) is a British writer and film critic. He has been chief film critic at ''The Guardian'' since 1999, and is a contributing editor at ''Esquire''. Early life and education Bradshaw was educated at Haberdasher ...

of ''

'' gave the film 3/5.''Swimming With Men'' review

, 5 July 2018 ''Empire'' gave it two stars and compared it unfavorably to ''

The Full Monty ''The Full Monty'' is a 1997 British comedy film directed by Peter Cattaneo, starring Robert Carlyle, Mark Addy, William Snape, Steve Huison, Tom Wilkinson, Paul Barber and Hugo Speer. The screenplay was written by Simon Beaufoy. The film ...

''.Swimming with Men review
Empire Online

References

External links

* {{Oliver Parker 2018 films 2010s sports comedy-drama films British sports comedy-drama films Films about friendship Midlife crisis films Synchronized swimming films Vertigo Films films 2010s English-language films 2010s British films