Rain (Bahamas) - When Rain's grandmother dies she's forced to move from an idyllic island to live with her mother in far less beautiful surroundings. The new community struggles with poverty, AIDs and violence. Rain tries to make the best of it turning to her love of running as an escape. At the new school she meets a coach who offers her a potential way out. Yes, it's fairly predictable. But generally it's well done and gives a view into a less seen part of the Bahamas without losing the value of telling a story. I didn't expect to like it - but came out with a pleasant surprise. Nice enough (though nice isn't quite the right word) little film. The film looks like it may have been shot on digital and there were some visible issues with projection when I saw it. Nothing horrible, but in some ways this might actually look better on home video.
A Pain in the Ass (France) - Great name, less great movie. Slapstick comedy about a hit man whose mission is put at risk by the love sick man attempting to get his wife back after she ran away with her psychiatrist. There's a moment or two that made me chuckle, but few (if any) that really had me laughing seriously. Which surprised me as I generally enjoy even the goofiest of French farce. I got the sense I was in the minority though from audience reaction. Which I'm glad about since it means they were enjoying the film. I preferred this years's "Welcome to the Sticks" (unfortunately not at SIFF) for equally dumb, but funnier French comedy.
Swimsuit Issue (Sweden) - An out of work man and his friends turn their floor hockey group into a male synchronized swim team. I'd heard this film described has a hilarious comedy. After seeing it that (for me at least) comes across as slightly misleading. There are some funny parts (the audience was laughing) but for me not enough to carry it as a straight comedy. But there are other aspects, the relationship with his daughter and the adoption/subversion of sports movie cliches that add additional dimensions. I wouldn't say this is one of the best films I've seen, but it was interesting and generally enjoyable to watch. Though you might not expect it from the write up it does take synchronized swimming somewhat seriously, showing the difficulty and some of the beauty of the sport - some of the maneuvers they do were surprisingly impressive.
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