Swimming with Men

The Full Monty in Speedos? Not exactly. But director Oliver Parker's agreeable comedy drama explores enough of the same territory to be acknowledged in similar feel-good terms, albeit in a far lighter way. Suffering from a self-made midlife crisis, bored number-cruncher Eric (Rob Brydon) joins an all-male, amateur synchronised swimming team and rediscovers his romantic mojo through its group therapy value. Whipped into shape by swim instructor Susan (Charlotte Riley), the ragtag bunch head to Rome to take part in an unofficial world championship. While Brydon's navel-gazing does feel slightly bogus, the script by Catherine Tate's gag-writer Aschlin Ditta is smarter and more nuanced than expected and wonderfully performed by a fine ensemble of British stalwarts (bereaved Jim Carter, wide boy Daniel Mays, lothario Rupert Graves, rogue Thomas Turgoose). Intriguingly, the film is loosely based on the 2010 documentary Men Who Swim, and the Swedish squad featured is the real-life team that inspired that factual record.