Rating of
1.5/4
Geoffrey Rush = barftastic
Snake Sugarbaker - wrote on 12/11/09
The true story of Tony Livingston, a 1960’s Australian swimming champ, Swimming Upstream stars the reprehensible Geoffrey Rush as the alcoholic, unsupportive father and the spectacular Judy Davis as the complacent, encouraging mother. A potentially-interesting biopic about two brothers who become athletic rivals is doomed by its “inspirational” script peppered with “I want to be somebody”s and the presence of Rush, who is given far too much screen time. When it comes to watching an athlete defend his mother from his bludgeon-wielding drunk-ass father, I prefer American Anthem. Though swimming is mos def better than gymnastics and the Aussie boys are much cuter than Mitch Gaylord, Swimming Upstream doesn’t have a synthesizer soundtrack. Nor Janet Jones.
