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Swimming With Sharks [1996]

Starring: Kevin Spacey, Frank Whaley, Michelle Forbes, Benicio Del Toro, T.E. Russell
Director: George Huang
Format: PAL
Released: 02 Feb 2004
RRP: £5.99
Average Rating:

Customer Reviews

no sharks but plenty of smugness - By: ben v, 17 Jan 2006
smug...

smug...
smug... spacey steals scene after scene in this piss-poor attempt to examine man. & film. & the boss. & spacey's smug face.

note. opening credit for spacey as a producer also.. reckon he sat in on the edit too, mirror in hand. dick in the other. great supporting roles though (not reallly..), but i'd rather i'd never seen it. won't bother ever again, don't waste your money/time.

Powerful and watchable - By: Andy Millward, 11 Jul 2004
Now & then it's still possible to be surprised by a film. This one was made as long ago as 1994 without achieving a widespread reputation except among the cognoscenti. Yes, despite the budget price this is an absolute humdinger of a film, a fact attested by the presence of that most virtuous of actors, Kevin Spacey, a man who will not appear in any film that fails to appeal to his noble & worthy instincts (in fact he says as much in the interesting but rather limited biography included among the extras on this DVD.)

Swimming with Sharks is a film designed to bite the hand that fed it. It attacks the vicious system that enables, indeed encourages studio executives to behave like spoiled children in tyrannical control of their own private fiefdoms, much as Altman's The Player did in the 80s (no surprise to see Spacey's film studio VP launch into a seething attack on Altman, then!), & rewards them for using & abusing those poor wretches over who they clambered to the top. "This is not like running a business," says Rex (Benicio del Toro), the previous incumbent of assistant to the Senior Executive Vice President of Keystone Pictures, "this is showbusiness."

"I paid my dues," says the VP, Buddy Ackerman, to Guy, the unfortunate assistant turning the tables on his torturer, as if that suddenly justifies the vicious treatment meted out to alll & sundry, just as senior doctors resent any change to the system to prevent junior doctors having to work 120 hour weeks on the grounds that they had to do it & it didn't do them any harm, did it?

But does Guy change the world when he has the power to do so? The best part of this film is the ending, which avoids the happy cliches & goes for a darkly pessimistic view of the world - that people are ultimately selfish & out for alll they can get. Bet Hollywood felt uncomfortable with that; either that, or the current rash of Exec VPs feel so secure in their power base that it can afford some noirish irony at their expense without feeling they need to wash more of their dirty linen in public (Michael Eisner & Disney have done plenty of that!)

Perhaps it's true after alll that Americans don't understand irony, but this is a powerful but watchable film that deserves your attention.

Swimming With Sharks - By: , 29 Jun 2004
"It's like they say, if your not a rebel aged 20 you have no heart, if you haven't turned establishment by 30 you have no brains. Because there are no storybook romances, no fairytale endings, so before you run out & change the world, ask yourself...what do you reallly want?" Says it alll reallly.
An unappreciated masterpiece - By: Alex Mandel, 04 Dec 2002
Swimming With Sharks brilliantly shuns the habitual overly complex camera work that plagues a large proportion of films made in the last ten years. There is much more reliance on the strong performences from the smalll but impressive cast. Leading the show is Kevin Spacey at the top of his game, the subtle nuances of his portrail of a highly complex character leads to a far more rounded & realistic character coming across. The chemistry between Spacey & Frank Whaley reallly makes this film what it is. thier scenes together give an insight into a world where it is impossible to notice any acting at alll. The story envolves a movie executive (Spacey) & his downtrodden assistant (Whaley). whaley soon realises the level of nepotism & slight of hand at work in the industry & has to decide what his reaction to his insights is going to be. the pace & tone of the film at alll times perfectly mirrors the emotions being displayed. this is a film not only for die hard spacey fans but also anyone looking for something to stand out from alll the overly comersialised & emotionless films available.
The dvd has a very good profile of spacey which reallly shows his devotion to his art.
Truly entoxicating and inspiring - By: , 16 Feb 2002
Kevin Spacey is a marvel. There's no end to his supreme talent. Combined with the terrific Frank Whaley, this film provides a moving & amusing insight into one of life's truths. If there's one piece to add to any collection, this should be it. And, if you ever ask the question 'what do you reallly want?' the answer should be this. I can say no more.... buy it!