NYAD

With her outstanding athletic achievements and outsized ego, Diana Nyad seems like the perfect subject for filmmakers.

She is the legendary long-distance swimmer at age 64 to swim from Cuba to Florida, a brutal stretch of 110 miles.

It's a pretty standard story of sports uplift, a familiar tale of triumph over adversity. When Nyad finally crossed successfully, with the help of a crew of coaches, kayakers, and a medic, it was her fifth attempt. We witness all the setbacks, all the ways in which the journey went frustratingly wrong before it went right. An unexpected encounter with a swarm of box jellyfish provides a harrowing scene of nighttime horror, for example.

What elevates "Nyad" above the expected terrain are the performance from Annette Bening and Jodie Foster, both individually and with each other. Benning brings swagger and a steely-eyed ferocity as Diana, reveling in the swimmer's self-aggrandizement and narcissistic knack for ignoring social cues. 

Nyad thinks a lot of herself, and you need that kind of ironclad sense of your abilities if you're going to succeed at this elite level of athletics. But as an actress, Bening appears to have zero vanity: makeup-free, with wet, messy hair, and often wearing a swimsuit or faded T-shirt, this is far from a glamorous depiction.

outstanding    adj)突き出した･目立つ･傑出した･すぐれた

athletic　　　adj)運動選手の･運動選手らしい･運動好きの･元気旺盛な

achievement　n)達成･成就･偉業

outsized＝outsize  adj)特大の

ego　/'iːgəƱ/　n)エゴ･自我･自尊心･うぬぼれ

legendary  /'ledʒəndri/　/'ledʒəndəril/　adj)伝説的な

brutal   adj)非人間的な･残忍な･荒々しい

stretch　　n)伸ばすこと、ストレッチ、散歩、長さ･距離、広がり

uplift　/'ʌplɪft/　v)持ち上げる、高揚させる　n)持ち上げる事、感情的高揚

tale　話･物語

triumph　n)勝利･征服･大成功･偉業

adversity　n)逆境･不運

cross v)横切る･渡る

successfully　adv)上手く、無事に、成功のうちに

medic n)救急医療隊員

attempt　n)試み･企て･記録を破ろうとすること

setback　/'setbæk/　n)つまずき･挫折

frustratingly　/'frʌstreɪtɪŋli/　adv)

all the ways　あらゆる方法･あらゆる面･すべての方法

in which 関係代名詞：前記を後記で説明するだけ

swarm　　　n)動物などの移動する群れ･大群

jellyfish　　n)クラゲ

box jellyfish　n)ハコクラゲ･毒クラゲ

harrow　/'hærəƱ/　v)人を精神的に苦しめる、土地をハローで耕す

horror　n)恐怖

elevate　v)高く持ち上げる、高める、昇進させる

terrain　/tə'rəɪn/　n)[仏]地形、土壌、～場、戦場、分野･状況

Annette Bening　アネッテ･ベニング

individually　adv)めいめい･ひとつひとつ･個別的に･個性的に

swagger　n)いばった態度･自慢気どり　v)いばって･自慢する

ferocity　/fə'rɒsəti/　/fə'rɑːsəti/　n)残忍･凶暴

steely　adj)鋼鉄製の･鋼鉄のような

aggrandizement　/ə'grændɪzmənt/　n)富･地位などの増大･強化

self-aggrandizement   自己強化･自己権力の拡大

narcissistic　/,nɑːsɪ'sɪstɪk/　/,nɑːrsɪ'sɪstɪk/　adj)自己陶酔的な

knack　/næk/　n)才覚･要領のよさ･コツ

cue  n)きっかけのセリフ、合図、しぐさ、ビデオなどの頭出し

social cues 人前での態度