Streamline

A sports movie without much actual sport in it. Streamline is instead a tense, oppressive family drama about the damage that ripples out of a broken home. Isaac's appearance on the movie's poster is also misleading, as the versatile Brit's role is little more than a cameo, with him appearing in only a handful of scenes. Anyone looking for a tale of obsession in the mold of Whiplash or The Novice, or of parental pressure run amok like in The Phenom, will be disappointed. What we have instead is a rites-of-passage story that seems to pride itself on imitating the messiness of real life.

Miller simmers just below the boil as Benjamin "Boy" Lane, all gym-hardened physique thrust onto an adolescent frame that's clearly not ready to take the weight of the world on his prematurely broad shoulders. He's surrounded by adults who seem to either want too much of him or who are borderline-negligent in their desire just to let him be. Isaac's Rob lingers in the background, no longer a threat but still a reminder of the bad old days. It's an interesting approach, but debut writer-director Tyson Wade Johnston doesn't do enough with his supporting characters. Boy's girlfriend Patti (Tasia Zalar) is the biggest missed opportunity. In a more original script their relationship could've offered a steer on the movie's biggest unanswered question: how much should we let others help us decide what we do with our talents?