THE SHINY SHRIMPS may seem like a lot of gay movies you have seen, but it ends up with a sparkling personality all its own. Yes, there is a bus ride through the country with a lot of colorful queers. And yes, every sports movie cliché raises its hand. But by the end of the movie, I dare you not to be moved.
Nicholas Gob plays a world class swimmer who uses a homophobic slur, and the swimming association punishes him by assigning him to coach the Shiny Shrimps gay amateur water polo team. They are horrible, with nearly no chance of qualifying for the Gay Games.
But since this is a sports movie, and an uplifting queer film, you can guess what will happen.
Gob’s performance anchors the film surrounded by a colorful group of characters that add texture. One swimmer secretly ditches his husband and twins to keep swimming, another is secretly dealing with cancer. One boy is a virgin, another trans, and they all hate the lesbians.
When all is said and done, the Shrimps – said to be based on a real team – pull together, reminding us no matter how different we are, we are one big rainbow family.
THE SHINY SHRIMPS is one of those great movies that would be more fun in a crowded movie than that it is streaming it alone. But it is worth the time.