Swimming (2000)

This spare, sensitive depiction of small-town dissatisfaction doesn't really have much new to say. But Swimming explores its well-worn themes with such quiet craftsmanship that it's difficult not to admire and enjoy it. As tomboyish waitress Frankie, a pre-Six Feet Under Lauren Ambrose leads the uniformly fine cast. Her wide-open face and quiet introspection find their perfect match in the trash-talking bluster of Jennifer Dundas Lowe, who plays brash body-piercing artist Nicola. The unspoken assumptions and hidden resentments between these two friends provide the film with much of its momentum. Joelle Carter and Jamie Harrold play two very different roles, and play them well, but their characters really serve mostly to spark Frankie's slow transformation from willing wallflower into something new. Director/co-writer Robert J. Siegel captures the painful but revelatory end of adolescence with a poignancy that will appeal to fans of Terry Zwigoff's Ghost World and Barry Levinson's Diner alike. Based on the evidence here, film professor Siegel should step outside the ivory tower and behind the camera more often. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide