Swimming with Sharks (1994)

Director:

George Huang

Writer:

George Huang (writer)

Release Date:

21 March 1995 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Tagline:

Back Stabbing - Two Faced - Revenge

Plot:

A young, naive Hollywood studio assistant finally turns the tables on his incredibly abusive producer boss.

Plot Keywords:

Boss | Assistant | Hollywood | Movie Producer | Torture

Awards:

3 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

Kevin Spacey	...	Buddy Ackerman
Frank Whaley	...	Guy
Michelle Forbes	...	Dawn Lockard
Benicio Del Toro	...	Rex
T.E. Russell	...	Foster Kane
Roy Dotrice	...	Cyrus Miles
Matthew Flint	...	Manny
Patrick Fischler	...	Moe
Jerry Levine	...	Jack

Also Known As:

The Boss
The Buddy Factor

MPAA:

Rated R for some scenes of psychological/physical torture and pervasive strong language.

Runtime:

101 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Australia:MA | Argentina:13 | South Korea:15 | Germany:16 | Singapore:R(A) | Spain:13 | UK:15 | USA:R | Singapore:PG (re-rating) | Iceland:16

Filming Locations:

Culver Studios - 9336 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA

Company:

Cineville

Trivia:

Buddy Ackerman's character was inspired by real life movie mogul Joel Silver. He's a famous producer Huang used to work for.

Goofs:

Continuity: After Buddy calls Guy at his apartment and tells him to go to the office for a phone number, the back of Guy's jacket collar alternates between being straight and twisted between shots.

Quotes:

Buddy: Oh, really? Well, what are we supposed to think? A young, eager producer comes up to the house of a top executive for a midnight rendezvous? She's right, Guy, it's not what you think. She's definitely not selling Girl Scout cookies!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Dot the I (2003)

Soundtrack:

HUMPTY DUMP

Dark but well acted

Swimming with Sharks was an earlier work of Spacey and perhaps one of his better efforts in acting. Many of his other roles are rather sedate and reserved such as KPAX or Se7en, but this one is more like his role in the Negotiator. The mark of a good actor is his ability to competently act in any genre of film and Spacey has this ability. The rest of the cast was also very good in their roles making the film good for viewers. The film is about cut-throat movie producer Buddy Ackerman (Spacey) who brutally indoctrinates his assistant Guy (Whaley) into the world of film making. Most everyone really wants to see someone put the tyrant Ackerman in his place. Guy can only take so much though. By the time the film ends, the viewer is thankful but surprised.