A FAMILY IN CRISIS, A SON WHO KEPT HIS HEAD ABOVE WATER.

Byline: Evan Henerson Film Critic

GEOFFREY RUSH has played some cinematic rotters in the past, but he'll have to do some serious script reading if he's ever again to come across as unsavory a fellow as Harold Fingleton, the icy, abusive patriarch of ``Swimming Upstream.'' Given Rush's uniquely craggy looks and past production choices (``Les Miserables,'' ``Pirates of the Caribbean'' and ``Quills'' leap most immediately to mind), the Oscar-winning Aussie seems to enjoy his frequent walks on the dark side.

Granted, the Marquis de Sade (of ``Quills'') was also a real person. But that role didn't exactly have the kitchen-sink scuzz of Hank Fingleton, a man also based on an actual human being, albeit one you might cross the street to avoid meeting.

The film, opening in limited release today, is former backstroke champion Anthony Fingleton's account of his upbringing and escape from what looks like a rather wretched Brisbane childhood. Tony, the second-oldest of five, took the Australian backstroke championship in 1961 and 1963 and the silver medal in the 1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games. His swimming earned him a scholarship to Harvard University, and he opted for education over the Olympics. After graduation, he moved into - ta-dah! - film and television.

Adapted from his book (co-written, as the screenplay is, with his sister, Diane), ``Swimming Upstream'' ends, smartly, with Tony's departure for Harvard. We are left, therefore, with a closing image of a young man who was finally able to consider himself exceptional at something after years of believing he was basically human offal.

That's where dear old dad comes in. The story begins in mid-1940s Australia. Hank Fingleton, an alcoholic dockworker, perpetually out of work and haunted by childhood demons of his own, encourages the bullying of young Hank Jr. and pins all his unfulfilled athletic dreams on Tony's younger brother, John. Like Tony, John is an outstanding swimmer, an athlete who competes in a different category than backstroking Tony. But Hank doesn't care. John gets the accolades, the attention. Tony gets zilch. Long-suffering mom Dora (played by Judy Davis) takes the blows - physical and mental - that might otherwise fall on her children, and encourages Tony not to quit.

The million-dollar question - unanswered by the film or by an off-again, on-again narrator - is why? Why does Hank seem to hold a special cache of detestation for his second son? Why, when Tony so clearly is willing to battle for what John doesn't crave, doesn't Hank get it? Doesn't crack even a tiny bit? The adult Tony is played by Australian teen heartthrob Jesse Spencer, whose camera-friendly looks and mannerisms practically bathe the screen in a benevolent glow. Who couldn't love this kid? A slightly mawkish farewell scene has Hank encouraging his Cambridge-bound son not to give up on his loving lout of a papa. And Tony shakes his hand. Baloney!

That Rush manages to find the glimmer of a soul in this creep is a testament to the actor's abilities. The performance, while not exactly restrained, isn't over-the-top monstrous either. Director Russell Mulcahy, with the learnings of his MTV video days clearly in mind, does some dazzling split-screen montages for the races, which don't exactly mesh with the feel of the rest of the movie. Then again, how else do you make a swim meet come off exciting? Mulcahy has the good sense not to make those important races big, climactic scenes. Their results are not what's important here.

And, of course, casting Geoffrey Rush is a smart choice as well. Embrace him or be creeped out by him, the man's compulsively watchable.

Evan Henerson, [phone]

evan.henerson(at)dailynews.com

SWIMMING UPSTREAM - Three stars

(PG-13: thematic material involving alcoholism and domestic abuse)

Starring: Geoffrey Rush, Judy Davis, Jesse Spencer, Tim Draxl.

Director: Russell Mulcahy.

Running time: 1 hr. 37 min.

Playing: AMC Century 14, Loews Cineplex Beverly Center, Regal Edwards University 6, Irvine.

In a nutshell: An Australian swimmer makes good, but can't win the love of his tyrannical father.

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Jesse Spencer portrays Australian swimming champion Anthony Fingleton in ``Swimming Upstream,'' Fingleton's account of his upbringing at the hands of an abusive father.