In "Nyad," there are two feats of perseverance on display. First, there is the ceaseless determination of Diana Nyad (Annette Bening) to accomplish a marathon swim from Cuba to Florida across 103 miles of open, shark-infested waters. Then there is the mettle of Nyad s support team to tolerate the singularly self-absorbed and stubborn Nyad. Both, in the film, are an endurance sport.
It's the rare role that could be said to be both shark and Oscar bait. Yet Bening's performance has little vanity to it. Her Diana is obsessively single-minded to the point of unlikeable. When Diana hits the ocean, Bening turns into a ferociously forward-moving force who won't let anything not thunder storms, nor jelly fish stings stop her in her quest.
In “Nyad,” there are two feats of perseverance on display. First, there is the ceaseless determination of Diane Nyad (Annette Bening) to accomplish a marathon swim from Cuba to Florida across 103 miles of open, shark-infested waters.