Page 46 - CALIFORNIA WOMAN - FULL SPRING EDITION 2024 - PDF FORMAT

From Linda Wilson

Below are a couple of movie reviews. Both had short releases in the theater and are now
available on Netflix. They also may be available at your local library on DVD
or via the library’s streaming services.

“Nyad” stars Annette Bening as Diana Nyad
and
Jodie Foster as her friend and coach Bonnie Stoll.

It is the story of Nyad’s attempts to swim from Cuba
to the Florida Keys. It starts with her attempt when
she is 61 and has a flash back to her first attempt
when she was in her 20s. It had always been her
dream to make the swim. She had other long-
distance swim achievements, but this one failed her.
In her 60s she decides to try again. She brings her
friend Bonnie on board. Together they get a boat cap-
tain to help in the endeavor. She keeps trying. She
gets stung by jellyfish in two of the tries and has to
quit.

The second time the jellyfish sting just about kills her. Bonnie tries to get her to quit as anoth-
er jellyfish sting will kill her if the sharks don’t get her. She does not swim in a shark cage be-
cause she does not want to have an asterisk by her name. She wants to be in open water.
Bonnie finds someone who has a gadget which gives off a sound that scares the sharks away.
On her 5th try she hallucinates. Bonnie dives in to the water to encourage her to continue as
there is only ten miles to go. She does make it swimming more than 100 miles.

I recommend it. It met Nyad about five years ago at a pro-
gram at Ebell in Los Angeles that I attended with Marjory
Hopper. I sat next to Nyad. From my brief conversation with
Nyad, I would say Bening captured her and even looked a
little like her with the makeup. The movie was not nominated
for an Academy Award even though I think it is a much bet-
ter movie than “Maestro,” which was nominated. Bening was
nominated for Best Actress, but did not win. Jodie Foster was
nominated for Best Supporting Actress and did not win.