Swimming With Sharks (Special Edition) | Kevin Spacey, Frank Whaley

Swimming With Sharks (Special Edition) | Kevin Spacey, Frank Whaley | Awesome movie!

DVDs:

Swimming With Shar...

	Swimming With Sharks (Special Edition) Kevin Spacey, Frank Whaley Lions Gate, 2005 average customer review:based on 86 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

How could you say this movie isnt funny?!

That baffles me. Its true that much of the humor in this movie is subtle, but come on! I worked at Blockbuster in high school and watched just about everything, as did the other employees, and this was THE MOVIE we recommended to EVERYONE. Looking back that was a bad idea. Many people wouldnt understand or appreciate the sick humor here, but it is here. Its also true that the director, along with the musical score, do try to pound the "power" of the scenes into you, i.e. the last scene when Buddy shows up in Guy's new office wearing his baseball cap to hide his new dew. I love it. A friend stole my copy...well, he didnt "steal it," he borrowed it and moved to Utah.

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Awesome movie!

An old fave, I got it as a gift for my sister. Love this movie. Funny, quirky, and dark!

Swimming With Sharks

I was under the impression that this movie was supposed to be humorous, but it is in fact quite edgy and unsettling at times. Nevertheless, I found the movie to be quite engrossing, and think that it succeeds in capturing the ruthless and dehumanizing nature of the (show) business world. As always, Spacey's acting is superb, but Whaley's portrayal of a naive kid wanting to make something of himself but who, in the end, finds himself being transformed into the likes of his tyrannt boss, was also well done. Overall, an excellent movie, just don't expect all that much humour.

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A Little Too Bi-Polar!

I believe dark comedies are movies that offer humor and disturbing/dark themes, but ultimately still picks one over the other. For example, "The Royal Tenenbaums" plays with quirky characters and also unpleasant memories of a hurt family. In the end, it chose to be a heart-warming movie with a biting edge.

"Swimming With Sharks," an unforgettable satire of workplace politics, is a movie that is caught dead in the middle. You'd think that would be a sign of perfection, but it actually becomes a frustrating experience.

Guy (played by the underrated Frank Whaley) is a movie fanatic who wants to make it big in the industry, but is soon blindsided, then painfully enlightened, by executive boss Buddy Ackerman (Kevin Spacey, who could not have done any better with this role). Along the way, he meets a cold writer/producer who at first condescends Guy, but then the two form a love relationship amidst the crazy politics.
The movie actually opens with Guy becoming fed up with Buddy's antics and hauntingly promises, "It's payback time.", and then chronicles both backward and forward.

I'll first address the movie's undeniable strengths. There are many lessons of life that will strike a hard, yet truthful, note. Ideas versus Reality, kissing ass-before-kicking it, the importance of learning one's true goals. You will not forget the philosphies that "Swimming With Sharks" presents to you. Whaley and Spacey are brilliant here. They have perfect timing with their dialogue and chemistry (if you can call this abusive relationship that), and don't wink to the camera or go insanely over-the-top.

Now for the faults. I actually don't mind the flashback technique that I usually dislike. It's definitely the correct approach for this movie. But huge contrast between the workplace insanity of the past and the torture/reflection sequences of the present are jarring. Maybe a man like Guy really would snap, but this is a painful contrast that is difficult to absorb. Now, I can forgive that because the ground-covered from the beginning to the end is supposed to be a long road-trip. But when Guy and Buddy bicker back-and-forth about the meaning of life, you'd wish they would both just shoot themselves and get it over with. Both are obviously troubled individuals, but enough is enough. "Swimming With Sharks" doesn't know when to let go because it's so hell-bent on getting the point across.

Strangely enough, the music is fitting, but also very annoying. The score has some monotonous rhythms that give a message reaffirming "This really is a dark movie!" I get it...enough already!

Maybe the perfectly-balanced dark comedy can't be made, because "Swimming With Sharks" is defintely the most middle-of-the-road I've ever seen. My conclusion regarding this dilemma is this: Perhaps this isn't the right topic to tackle. Movies and films possess such a knack for visual style and storytelling that maybe we don't need to "WATCH" this dark tale. Because movies require some degree of sympathy with the characters, and because "Swimming With Sharks" has so many unlikeable traits, maybe this one shouldn't have been about movies to begin with.

This movie acheives what it wants to, and is very well-made and has great acting. However, just because "Swimming With Sharks" accomplishes what it wants to do, doesn't mean that it's a rewarding experience. I think everyone should see this movie, but it's not a pleasant film.

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