The Swimming With Sharks Page
A quick glance at the media information could well lead one to
assume that Swimming With Sharks was made with a similar aim. It
certainly doesn't prepare you for the reality of the film, which is a tale of
severe mental abuse. The abuser is Buddy Ackerman (Kevin Spacey) a
studio exec with one hell of an ego and a nasty temper to go with it. The
abused, Guy (Frank Whaley), is Ackerman's fresh-out-of-film-school
assistant. It seems inconceivable that anyone could find their relationship
funny, even taking into account a penchant for the blackest sense of
humour. Buddy repeatedly tells Guy that he's nothing, that he didn't exist
before he came to work for him, that he has no brain, that his thoughts are
worthless. He throws coffee at him if it's not hot enough, he throws bagels
at him if they've got too much cream cheese on them, he steals Guy's
ideas, takes all the credit and still bawls him out for not doing his job.
Two things make this relentless tirade bearable - one being our need
to know just why Guy puts up with this abuse for so long (the passage of
time is reinforced through a series of titles from Day One, to Week One
up to Year One) and the other being the amazing power play it
represents. As the film progresses it becomes clear that the two are
almost inseparable. Buddy controls Guy because he knows exactly what
Guy wants, and especially because Guy is too naive at first to admit what
is really in his heart and how far he'll go to get it. Much credit has to go to
Spacey for his ability to take his character to such sadistic extremes while
making us marvel at his intelligence and manipulative capabilities.
Nowhere is this more evident than in the climatic scenes where Guy
decides to torture his torturer. Status play would usually decree that the
guy tied to the chair has lower status than his captor. One can only sit
back and savour the visual irony then when Buddy, despite one brief
moment of weakness, gains the upper hand yet again.
Swimming With Sharks is not what you could call light
entertainment, but it escapes being plain nasty through solid acting (even if
Whaley at times seems too pliant) and some clever scripting: "You're
going to make a killing in this business," Buddy remarks to Guy with cool
irony.
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