Review

In a Hollywood wasteland of starved starlets and plastic-surgery queens, the voluptuous Ambrose is a true original. With Swimming, she pumps up the frump factor as boyish-girl Frankie, a misfit in overalls who goes all but ignored by the endless stream of young boys on vacation in Myrtle Beach. Frankie spends most of her time working at a diner and hanging with her sassy and unclassy best friend Nicola (Lowe) until bombshell Josee (Carter) comes to town and opens Frankie’s eyes to a world of possibility. The relationship Frankie and Josee build is definitely tinged with sexual energy, but the film doesn’t take things too far down that road. Josee’s feisty personality and sexual assuredness gives Frankie more confidence in her own attractiveness. While Carter does a great job in her sexy role, this movie belongs to Ambrose. In a flash of subtle beauty, she imbues her character with the awkwardness and self-awakening that so accurately reflects life at this age, and Swimming becomes a metaphor for how to stay afloat in the rocky waves of adolescence.