Swimming with Sharks (1994)

Wow! Such a good movie.

SERIOUSLY. This is what the crap Hollywood still puts out?

The movie is wonderful and true, an act of love in all its contradictions and complexity

Blistering performances.

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.

Because the Hollywood industry is saturated with those who dream of being on the "inside", some people at the higher levels abuse their positions of power. Some of these regard themselves as the equivalent of demi-gods or priest-like figures, guarding the gates of the temple of the film/entertainment industry. They expect to be worshiped or at least revered, allowing the initiated to pass through. Those who are given a chance to become initiates are sometimes subjected to a kind of hazing process in which the poor initiate is subjected to the whims of the high elites.Kevin Spacey plays Buddy Ackerman, the perfect Hollywood shark, a studio executive who believes everything he says and does should be viewed as "gospel" by those who work under him. Guy (Frank Whaley) is his new assistant, or better stated, his new whipping boy. Guy is greener than an unripe tomato, replacing Rex (Benicio del Toro) of whom Buddy says "is a good for nothing mongoloid" on the first day. But before the first day is over, Guy realizes that this is going to be long term abuse.Spacey makes the perfect vain studio executive. One of the best aspects of his performance is that he wavers between seeming reasonable than flying into rages which would give your average wolverine a runs for its money. He berates Guy for giving him the wrong artificial sweetener. He throws books and papers at him. Even occasionally food. He even makes his assistant embark on impossible tasks, such as destroying every single copy of a Time Magazine issue which contained a scathing article about him. Ackerman's motto is "You are nothing. You're opinion means nothing".As book ends to the narrative, we flash to another part of the story: Guy has kidnapped Ackerman and has tied him. He's torturing him as payback. But the abuse is not the only reason Guy wants Buddy to suffer. As bad as Guy's mistreatment, the worst aspect is the executive's habit of taking credit for the deeds of others. In a poignant scene, Ackerman pretends to praise Guy to another executive, but Guy realizes it was false.A very interesting film, mostly for those who have either worked for or been associated with ego-maniacs. The movie industry is chock full of people who believe they are above everyone else because of certain successes. This gives some of them license to abuse others, particularly because so many desire what few positions are available. As Buddy himself says "Life is not a movie. Good guys lose, everybody lies, and love... does not conquer all."

If it turned out that Kevin Spacey paid the Producers to play this role I wouldn't be surprised given that it is an actor's dream role and one that makes Kirk Douglas's Jonathan Shields in The Bad And The Beautiful seem like a wimp. Douglas himself, who revelled in playing characters like this would have probably gone to the mat with Robert Ryan to play Buddy Ackerman had this film been written when Douglas and Ryan were in their heyday. As it is Spacey hits one out of the park without even trying and the best thing is that there is fine support from the other two leads. Cyanide-laced screenplays about Hollywood are not exactly thin on the ground - we can cite, in chronological order, Sunset Boulevard, The Bad And The Beautiful and Cliff Odets' The Big Knife off the top of our heads and they all appeared within six years of each other in the fifties. Swimming With Sharks may lack the skillful screenplays all three boasted but it is still well worth a look.

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.