Posted on: Saturday, August 31, 2002

Swimming with a tide of new films

Advertiser Staff

It's a big weekend for independent films and their fans in Honolulu. Among the debuts is "Swimming," a coming-of-age tale starring Lauren Ambrose of HBO's "Six Feet Under." She plays young Frankie, a waitress in her family's restaurant in Myrtle Beach, S.C., whose friendships and love life blossom.

There's a Hawai'i tie, too: Former Honolulan Anthony Ruivivar, who stars in TV's "Third Watch," has a featured role.

Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times praised the film's cast, which is "drawn with a deftness and an awareness of their complexity that is more common to French rather than American movies.

"'Swimming' makes the coming-of-age experience seem as fresh as tomorrow," he writes.

"Swimming" (98 minutes) is unrated but contains sexuality, foul language and complex adult themes.