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"The Gymnast," released in 2006, is an artful film, in which the two talents at the top combine the skilled, nuanced artistry of disciplines for which other films could employ nine separate artists! Ned Farr wrote the screenplay, directed, edited, and wrote seven of the songs in the film's soundtrack. But the film was a tour de force for its star, Dreya Weber, who also produced, created the aerial choreography, and was the film's stunt coordinator! If you were counting, Weber not only acted superbly, she also performed her own aerial-gym routines--remarkably, especially given her age, admirable for the story's character and the person in reality. She'll make most of you want to throw out the contents of your refrigerator and cabinets and run around the block a few hundred times, swinging from low-hanging tree limbs along the way, or wish that you could, or at least ask yourself, "Where is the Dreya Weber Workout Routine DVD anyway?" But there is, here in 2011, a "new," ceiling-suspended exercise fad called, "anti-gravity yoga," or "cocooning," which gives no credit to "The Gymnast," or aerialist athletes who more likely than not are the chrysalis for this adapted exercise form.
Weber has a history of creating and performing in dazzling aerial choreographs for entertainment's elite headliners and for shows that reach as high as the White House, so the impressive routines she devised for the film are not nearly as surprising as her athletic and performing skills, which were also those of a seasoned professional. Weber's athletic preparation for this role actually began in training for her collegiate career, where she was an All American gymnast and Eastern Conference champion, and later on, a trapeze artist. In the film, Weber plays "Jane," a world-class athlete who, in her competitive youth, was favored to win national titles and Olympic metal, until she tore her Achilles tendon.
Talented Addie Yungmee co-stars, as "Serena," and as with Weber, Yungmee is also an outstanding athlete, actor, and a dancer, the more artful of the two, giving way to Weber's greater strength. These weighted attributes were also inherent in the characters and pointed out early in the story by actor Mam Smith's character, "Nicole," the adult-gym instructor who recognizes Jane during a visit to her gym and brings her together with Serena, stating the goal after introducing them, which was also a facet of the story's goal: to meld the strengths of the two into a unified artwork, and for Jane, to form the path to a new life with new challenges and rewards.
Farr's direction and writing are superb, never heavy handed or awkward. And, oh, was it mentioned that this is a film indicated in many quarters to be a lesbian device? That is about as apparent as its place in this review, because you first have to get past the involvement with the characters' lives, which is drawing, apart from their sexuality, and you're taken in by the sheer beauty of the leading actors and their art before their sexuality has any chance to rear its head. But that sexuality is another facet that develops, naturally, and which is as understated as the good taste of refined partners would demand, and which unlike so many lesbian films, is entirely without the halting reproaches and clumsiness with which most initial encounters into the sensual initiation of same-sex contact are portrayed.
The fine performances of all the lesser roles are pepper to the tamale, with David De Simone's portrayal, as Jane's husband, believable at both ends of an extreme, though if any weakness of the film were to be pointed out, it would be the abruptness with which the script brings his character from one extreme to the other. The film is dedicated to De Simone's memory.
I'd never heard of this film, or of Weber, or Farr, stumbling upon it in a trailer short from another film that touched upon lesbianism, one of many disappointments I'd watched, searching for gold, and hoping "The Gymnast" would fulfill, especially since films based in sport, like "Stick It," and theater, like "Burlesque," are favorites for me, and "The Gymnast" brought it home in so many surprising ways, making that sometimes sleazy slog through the rest worthwhile. After watching it, it was not at all surprising to learn that the film received 28 U.S. and international awards at festivals, including many audience and jury awards, as well as accolades for the performers.
I also loved "Burlesque," another film about strong women with story based in the arts, which starred Cher and Christina Aguilera, and it occurred to me that Weber's film has a parallel to that: Weber's character to Cher's as Yungmee's to Aguilera's, though, more than that, I would love to see Weber and Cher do a film story based in music and the arts together. It might happen, since Cher once hired Weber to choreograph and perform in the aerials for her tour. It might be the only way either of them can top their respective performances in "The Gymnast" and "Burlesque." But Weber joins with Ned Farr again, four years later, in her latest film, "A Marine Story," which is also critically acclaimed and is now on top of my "to see" list.
And here's a tip: you definitely do NOT want to turn off the player when the credits begin to roll, because this is where the film will begin to draw more smiles as it so creatively tells another little story to cleverly bring the film full circle with its opening scene. Speaking of which, after that, the Weber-Farr short film, "The Catcher," and the "making of" documentary in the DVD's special features are more pearls well worth diving for.
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- Amazon CustomerReviewed in the United Kingdom on January 9, 2018
BUT I FOUND IT VERY GOOD, WITH THE PRO-FIGHT-FEMALES HOLDING THERE OWN IN THE ...
