The Swimmer
1968
Burt Lancaster stars in this adaptation of John Cheever's dreamlike short story about one man's highly unusual attempt to find meaning in his life. On the morning after a booze-filled night, Ned Merrill wakes up in a haze, confronted by the sterility of his isolated, wealthy suburban existence. So he decides to traverse this .. Read more
| Starring | Burt Lancaster, Janice Rule, Diana Muldaur, Kim Hunter |
|---|---|
| Director | Frank Perry |
| Genres | Drama |
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The Swimmer
Burt Lancaster stars in this adaptation of John Cheever's dreamlike short story about one man's highly unusual attempt to find meaning in his life. On the morning after a booze-filled night, Ned Merrill wakes up in a haze, confronted by the sterility of his isolated, wealthy suburban existence. So he decides to traverse this upper-class world swimming pool by swimming pool: he goes to each neighbor's house, swims through the chlorinated waters of the requisite backyard pool, and chats with the owner. Among the people he sees are his longtime mistress, a sexy babysitter and a couple of politically-liberal (or so they believe) nudists. This interesting, overlooked film, is a visually captivating look at the essential emptiness of the "American Dream."
| Starring | Burt Lancaster, Janice Rule, Diana Muldaur, Kim Hunter, Marge Champion |
|---|---|
| Director | Frank Perry |
| Studio | SONY PICTURES HOME ENTERTAINMENT |
| Run time | DVD: 1 hr 31 mins |
| Certificate | |
| Genres | Drama |
| Language | DVD: English |
| Released | DVD: 26 May 2003 Production year: 1968 |
| Format | DVD |
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Critics' reviews (2)
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Remember the Levi jeans advertisement where a hunk took a dip in a dozen pools to the strains of Mad about the Boy? This is the film that inspired it. Based on a short story by cult writer John Cheever, it stars Burt Lancaster as a washed-up suburban man who decides to swim home, using all the pools in his neighbourhood en route. This is not only healthy — and Lancaster looks terrific in his trunks — it's a metaphor for alienation from affluence, sexual desire, Vietnam — you name it, it's all at the bottom of the deep end. Not to everyone's taste, this weird picture now seems an oddly powerful companion piece to The Graduate.
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A largely loony but oddly compulsive allegory, taken from a John Cheever story, in which Lancaster, clad only in... read more on Time Out
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Most helpful member's review
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7 out of 7 people found this review helpful
Not Waving but Drowning ...
A middle aged man, bronzed and fit and clad only in swimming trunks appears at a poolside on a sunny summer afternoon. He is warmly greeted by the family sitting around it and states his intention to swim from pool to pool to his home across the valley.
The film follows him and takes us on an increasingly chilling psychological journey. This movie rated so-so notices from some reviewers, partly because Burt Lancaster, who plays the lead with immense control and skill, was better known for beefcake roles and was considered miscast.
Twenty years on this seems irrelevant and although there are some signs of its age, the film still packs a pretty strong punch. -
Most recent members' review
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2 out of 2 people found this review helpful
A True One-Off
It's better that you know as little as possible about The Swimmer before you see it. This story of a businessman who decides to swim home through miles of adjacent swimming pools begins as a lightly comic tale, before all kinds of darkness creeps in. Burt Lancaster is superb in the title role. The film's music is sometimes distractingly bad, but don't let that stand in the way of you renting this haunting film.
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Burt Lancaster stars in this adaptation of John Cheever's dreamlike short story about one man's highly unusual attempt to find meaning in his life. On the morning after a booze-filled night, Ned ... -