Movie Review: On a Clear Day

Chariots of Fire is probably the definitive movie about Running. Cycling has Breaking Away. I was wondering where the great swimming movies were, and I think I found one: On a Clear Day. It's the story of an upper-middle-aged man in England who one day decides - almost on a whim - that he is going to swim the English Channel. He is helped in his training by his overly supportive if not-necessarily-too-bright friends. It's a funny movie without being a comedy; I guess I'd classify it as a light-hearted drama.

There are a couple things I really liked about it. With most underdog-athlete stories, the movie builds up to the championship game or the big race. Here, there is no competition. It's just about a man, and the water. It shares the spirit of the triathlon for most of us: it isn't about winning, it's about finishing. I also liked that it is a "small" story. He isn't swimming for Olympic glory or to rescue his kidnapped daughter; he's simply doing it because it's something he feels he needs to do.

My only complaint about the movie is that as an American, I have trouble understanding english. I had to turn the subtitles on to get through the thick accents and slang. Mister P. gives this film Three Wedgies out of four.



Don't judge the film too much by the trailer. It looks like they're trying to make the humor kind of slapsticky and that isn't the case at all.

On a Clear Day trailer