Review of The Swimmer (1968) by Andrew S — 07 May 2009
A woman?s picture for the men. One day, Ned Merrill (Burt Lancaster) decides to swim home from a friend?s house by working his way through all of the swimming pools in his upscale Connecticut neighborhood.
Each pool serves as a new piece in the jigsaw puzzle of his life: his past mistakes, his broken relationships, his lost dreams, his delusions. The epic journey exposes the tragedy of Ned?s existence and reveals the same kind of social malaise that was at the heart of The Graduate.
(Ned is, in fact, a lot like a middle-aged version of Benjamin Braddock.) Frank Perry?s evocative direction digs beneath the glossy veneer of the cocktail generation and reaches Sirkian levels of demented maudlin.
Burt Lancaster spends the entire film in nothing more than his swimming trunks and he gives a raw, naked, heart-wrenching performance that is among his very best.
This review of The Swimmer (1968) was written by Andrew S on 07 May 2009.
The Swimmer has generally received very positive reviews.
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