There are probably a dozen reasons why one would want to see Martin Guigui's latest production Swing. The story evolves around a rebellious boy (Innis Casey) trying to follow his dreams while falling in love with a seductive older woman (Jacqueline Bisset) while…he also discovers a mysterious swing club where a dollar bill can buy a whole lot more than what you can imagine. Sounds like a great premise for a romantic film correct? Wrong!! Here's why:

Aside from a great cast suggesting that Swing would most likely be an enjoyable experience where we will be treated with quality acting and an engaging story this relatively new production fails to reveal anything more than what you would probably see in the after hours programming of your least favorite movie channel. An abundance of "romantic" clichés, poorly written lines, and an overly sentimental storyline which ends up as a disaster certainly transform Swing into an unfortunate, yet as it seems to me quite ambitious, project.

The greatest strength of Swing, a decent and capable of a few surprises swing band, is overshadowed by the poor crooning attempts of the main protagonist which left me nervously playing with the remote control entertaining the idea of simply ignoring the rest of the film. Let's be honest here…did anyone actually bother listening to the "romantic" songs which Anthony performed? His singing was so amateurish and out of tune that a few times I fast-forwarded his creative attempts wishing that he would concentrate on either one of the two femme fatales rather than exposing his more passionate side. Dull, unpersuasive, and simply fake are the terms that come to mind when I recall what I heard from this self-proclaimed "singer".

Much of the rough singing attempts by Anthony are also complimented by a strong desire to impress Jacqueline Bisset's character while learning how to swing. Once again the much stronger presence of the now visibly older British star put Anthony to a test which he visibly fails. His inadequate moves, very awkward lines, and desire to impress create a much different effect which would be more suitable for Doug Liman's Swingers (1996) where the loser-image is the focus of attention. As far as I am concerned Innis Casey is terribly miscast as Anthony Verdi and the worst part is that it shows quite well.

I did not "Dance to the music of my heart" as the cover for this DVD release suggests. In fact, excluding the few tolerable scenes where the Swing band performed my heart was urging me to ignore the rest of the film and go about my business. I am also surprised to see that some actually found this film to be romantic. I am either a totally unromantic person or there are people out there that have this whole business of "being romantic" somewhat skewed. Regardless, this is one poorly scripted and executed film which has no redeeming values whatsoever!!

Awards/ Recognition

Surprisingly enough in 2004 Swing won the Gold Medal for Excellence at the Park City Film Music Festival held in Utah.

How Does the DVD Look?

While the back cover for this DVD release indicates that the film is presented in "Full Screen" Swing is actually presented in an aspect ratio unnoticeably wider than 1.78:1. The print is not enhanced for widescreen TVs. With this said, the actual quality of the print is not so bad: colors appear accurate, contrast is relatively good, and there are no noticeable dirt specs or damage that are likely to distract your viewing experience. There is however some inconsistent grain which appears in some very unusual areas suggesting that its presence is not part of the film's composition.

How Does the DVD Sound?

Offered an English 5.1 Dolby Digital track Swing sounds quite well. The great parts of the film where the band performs come off rather well and I did not notice any major issues with the audio treatment.

Extras:

There is an audio commentary with the director of the film who goes into great detail in discussing the filming process, the editing, and the aura which Swing attempted to recreate. I think that the director was very honest in his evaluation and I truly got the impression that he wanted to create a film which impresses both visually and in terms of its music structure. Unfortunately, due precisely to the "acting" of one of the main characters Swing failed to developed into a great film. Next, there is an interesting extra called "On the Dancing Floor" which reveals how some of the cast felt about the film. It appears that most of them were truly impressed by the use of color, excellent dancing, and of course the great background music. Tom Skerritt and Jacqueline Bisset both speak about the courage one must have in order to follow their dreams. And while the structure of this film does indeed suggest some noble causes the final product is something else. Nevertheless, it is great to see that the main actors were quite satisfied with their contribution to this release. Next, "Making Swing": an interesting inside look at the filming of the dance acts with the choreographer of the film Cynthia Glinka. In "Making Swing" Mrs. Glinka talks about the chance of a lifetime which swing dancers from the San Francisco Bay Area got when this film was in production. In addition, Mrs. Glinka also speaks about the history and tradition of the area and when and how Swing was put together. Last but not least there is the theatrical trailer for Swing.

Final Thoughts:

What could have been a great film with a captivating music score was quickly destroyed for me by the amateurish acting and more importantly disturbingly inept singing of the main protagonist in Swing. The cast and obviously the director were very much inspired by the project but unfortunately their excitement materialized into something that I would not describe as a quality production. I spent some extra time going through the entire commentary with the director of the film (as I was so unpleasantly "impressed" by the horrendous romantic singing in Swing) and from what I gather he had a rather different vision for a film where both acting and music would compliment each other. I truly liked his comments but something must have gone terribly wrong as the excellent energy with which Swing opens is soon replaced by amateurish lines and performances that truly destroy the charm of this ambitious project. I am sorry to report that while for me this film falls into the "SKIP IT" category I can only recommend that you "RENT IT" (and you have been warned).