Swimming Upstream (2001)

This is a heart-wrenching story about a happy-go-lucky 17 year-old boy with a passion for life and love. Under his free spirit are problems that he must deal with. His mother died, his alcoholic father is unapproachable, and ...the biggest problem of all... he has been diagnosed with terminal cancer. The only support he receives is from a sister who also lives a fractured life, his immature best friend, and his girlfriend. "Swimming Upstream" is a moving and honest look at life's painful realities and how this teen deals with them.

Beautiful story

As a huge fan of Matt Czuchry's, I bought this DVD because I wanted to see more of his work. This movie truly illustrates how talented of an actor he is. I was incredibly impressed that he was able to act like a normal, hormonal teenage boy one minute, and the next, becoming a quiet young man disappointed with his home life. When Morris discovered he had a life threatening illness, the way Matt portrayed Morris' emotions was very well done. Between wanting to pretend that it wasn't really happening to him, to the realization that it truly was, and the testing of boundaries, both physically and emotionally.

The supporting cast did a phenomenal job as well, but it was Matt that carried the movie and made it shine.

I have been waiting for this movie to fall in price for about a year, but it never did and I finally got tired of waiting, so I bought it. While it was a great movie, I definitely don't see how it's worth the $18 dollars it cost, plus S&H, considering it was made over six years ago. Had there been more special features, I wouldn't have minded as much . . . all in all, a great movie. But beware of the lack of Special Features. September 19, 2008

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