Kirandeep Yoder
The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.
garbstanley
This is a highly underrated movie in my opinion. Based on the experiences of Hollywood interns Swimming with sharks is a fictional account of an intern who is subjugated to daily abuses by his boss. It is a satire but Kevin Spacey is in such good form you start taking it personally. It is shocking that the writer-director George Huang's career never took off because this is a well written screenplay and shot with expertise. Give this film a shot if you wish to understand the ruthless world of Hollywood filmmaking.
videorama-759-859391
Way before Kevin Spacey became a horrible boss, he was another real horrible ar..hole boss, where this movie really lets you ponder how far you can let someone push you. Hollywood producer exec, Buddy Ackerman (Spacey) who just revels in the role with flawless brilliance, lets out a string of verbal and physical assaults on a new fish employee, who Buddy has basically kissing his arse. Of course a lot of employees in the real world, who have been bullied, where the boss has made them their ashtray, will identify with this all too well, or painfully so, or to smaller degrees, than Spacey's handling of his employee, Guy, Pulp Fiction's Frank Whaley, suited up, and suited perfectly in this role, worlds away from that psychopathic nutter, in the first Vacancy film. The movie switches back and forth in slick fashion, which doesn't make it lose it intensity at all. Whaley has turned the tables on Spacey, making him his b.tch, holding him hostage in his own palisade house. What sparked this was Guy's new love involvement (Michelle Forbes) who Spacey refers loosely and dismissively to as "a little f..k towel". We continue to cut back and forth to Buddy's mistreatment of Guy, chronologically, until that final straw, and oh, how does he make Whaley suffer. In the end, unfortunately the victim is either of these two, and in that kind of hazy finale, we're left to figure out how it really went down, providing a slick thriller element, you wrack your brain for hours with, and this make does make pensive. I really enjoyed this movie, like I hadn't another one this much, for a while, which Adelaide Cinema's weren't granted a season run. But I recommend this to anyone, as it's another one that's slipped through the cracks, and that goes double if you're a Spacey fan, for you are to witness one of the most dramatically intense, searing, and powerhouse performances from a boss whose methods of intimidation are frightening. A master actor at work, where his two supporting co stars deliver solid. One engrossing film, from start to finish.
Tcarts76
This is one of those movies where a great actor turns a run of the mill film into a good one. Kevin Spacey is just the sort of actor that always seems to do that."Swimming with Sharks," is the story of a young man, Guy ( Frank Whaley), who is determined to make his mark in the Movie industry. He lands a job as the assistant to big time Hollywood executive, Buddy Ackerman (Kevin Spacey), and thinks he has the start to launch him into the big time. It turns out that Buddy is not only a bigshot executive but also makes ridiculous demands, and is a downright cruel demanding boss, that seems to have no regard for his assistant or anyone for that matter. How far can Buddy push Guy until he snaps?This is not a new story line, it has been done time after time, but it is a horrible boss story, so everyone can relate to it. I am not a fan of Frank Whaley and actually can't stand him, but he does a decent job in this one. As I said this movie wasn't very original and I probably wouldn't have liked this movie at all if it wasn't for Kevin Spacey.Kevin Spacey did a great job portraying the evil, demanding boss.In my mind, he was what made this movie. Everything in this movie says boring and done before, but Kevin Spacey's performance turns it into a good movie. It's rare that one actor could do that by himself but in this case it is true.Not to reveal anything, but the end takes a twist that is actually a pretty good one. So overall, it was a good movie, not a great one. Spacey turns out to be the only one driving it, but somehow it was enough to make it watchable and at times enjoyable.Like my reviews, hate em? Any questions or comments, or if you want a DVD reviewed just shoot me an e-mail at:
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CountZero313
From Sunset Boulevard (1950) through to The Player (1992), the dark side of Hollywood has given up juicy material for filmmakers looking to bite the hand that feeds. Not that there is any secret to be revealed here - pretty much everything you need to know about the soulless, spirit-crushing side of movie-making is contained in Raymond Chnadler's 1945 essay "Writer's in Hollywood", which contains more horror than any of the celluloid parodies it has since inspired.Swimming with Sharks is the tale of innocent Guy (a freshly scrubbed Frank Whaley), whose monster boss is tinsel town king-maker Buddy Ackerman, a screaming, mood-shifting bully who dangles just enough opportunity before Guy to keep him on his leash. But payback is due, and comes in spades.It is all very dark and delicious, and Spacey gets to rip loose as the psycho boss, the joke being that it is his very lack of sanity and compassion that allows him to thrive in the business. Love interest is supplied by producer Dawn (Michelle Forbes), who allows Guy to stay grounded as he negotiates his way to the top. Dawn and Guy show us that even in Hollywood true love can conquer all - or can it? It is received wisdom that movies about movies don't travel very well. Swimming with Sharks is about delusion and corruption, and how much the human spirit can take. It just happens to be set in Hollywood, but Buddy Ackerman could be Gordon Gecko in a different market. Worth watching to see Spacey enjoying himself in a role where he gets to say pretty much whatever he likes, and does so with relish.
