IMDb > Swimming with Sharks (1994)
Swimming with Sharks
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Swimming with Sharks (1994) More at IMDbPro »

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Swimming with Sharks (1994) -- A young, naive Hollywood studio assistant finally turns the tables on his incredibly abusive producer boss.
Swimming with Sharks (1994) -- Bob Simon traveled to South Africa in 2005, to swim with great white sharks and investigate the growth in shark attacks on people

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Overview

User Rating:
7.0/10   9,432 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Down 6% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
Writer:
George Huang (writer)
Contact:
View company contact information for Swimming with Sharks on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
21 March 1995 (USA) more
Genre:
Tagline:
Back Stabbing - Two Faced - Revenge more
Plot:
A young, naive Hollywood studio assistant finally turns the tables on his incredibly abusive producer boss. full summary | full synopsis
Awards:
3 wins & 2 nominations more
NewsDesk:
(13 articles)
Horrible Bosses Get A Pair Of Writers
 (From EmpireOnline. 16 September 2009, 12:27 AM, PDT)

10 Movie Bosses Who Are Complete Assholes
 (From FilmSchoolRejects. 4 September 2009, 12:46 PM, PDT)

User Comments:
One of the best artistic commentaries on the professional world more (129 total)

Cast

  (Complete credited cast)
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Additional Details

Also Known As:
The Boss
The Buddy Factor
more
MPAA:
Rated R for some scenes of psychological/physical torture and pervasive strong language.
Runtime:
101 min
Country:
Language:
Color:
Aspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Company:

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
Buddy Ackerman's character was inspired by real life movie mogul Joel Silver. He's a famous producer Huang used to work for. more
Goofs:
Anachronisms: When Guy is recalling his favorite movie memories on his first date with Dawn, he recalls the summer of 1988, in which he saw Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989). Then again, Gabe Kaplan was not in The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh (1979) as Guy says he was, so it's clear that his memory isn't all that he claims. He was probably thinking of Fast Break (1979) in which Kaplan played a basketball coach. more
Quotes:
Dawn: How about lunch?
Guy: Well, I'm not allowed to take lunch, Buddy doesn't believe in it.
more
Movie Connections:
References Sleeping Beauty (1959) more
Soundtrack:
HALF A LIFE more

FAQ

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.
11 out of 13 people found the following comment useful.
One of the best artistic commentaries on the professional world, 22 July 2006
10/10
Author: Brandt Sponseller from New York City

This film would be worth watching just for Kevin Spacey's portrayal of the ultimate boss from hell, Buddy Ackerman, but there's also much more than that going on. Ostensibly a damning look at the inner workings of the film business, Swimming with Sharks just as accurately depicts any highly dysfunctional employer/employee/associate relationships, and that's a lot of them.

But even more than that, there is a lot of mostly unstated philosophical material underpinning much of the film, some of it literal and some more metaphorical, such as the ending. One of the key lines of dialogue towards this end is Ackerman's, "If you're not a rebel by 21, you've got no heart, and if you haven't gone establishment by 30, you've got no brain".

Ackerman obviously has problems or he wouldn't be acting quite in the way that he is, but director George Huang and Spacey are also careful to show that Ackerman has a lot more going on than surface behavior--he's acting the way that he is purposefully, both to get his due now as part of the establishment and to coyly manipulate his young, meek and abused underling, Guy (Frank Whaley), along with everyone else he comes into contact with. His aim is to mold Guy in a particular way--a way that works even though Guy thinks that he's severely breaking form in the extended penultimate scene that's intercut with Guy and Ackerman's history.

Huang shows professional relationships as consisting mostly of politicking and manipulation. That's true at every level--certainly even Guy is doing this. There is very little authenticity to anyone in their working relationships. That seems pretty accurate to me, unfortunately. It's notable that the one dream of authenticity in the film--Guy talking about moving to Wyoming with Dawn (Michelle Forbes)--is treated and dispensed with as an unreachable fantasy, and it's also notable (and is fairly literally pointed out in the film) that Dawn, the one character who tries to demand being more authentic amidst the "shark infested waters" of the professional world, basically never gets anywhere.

In the highly metaphorical ending of the film, things remain manipulative, political and backstabbing, and in that climate, at least two out of three characters "win". Huang seems to be suggesting that the professional world ain't likely to change any time soon, and that even if you try to change it or manipulate the game itself, you're likely to just get eaten up by it, processed by it and incorporated into it anyway. Again, I can't say I disagree with him.

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Message Boards

Discuss this movie with other users on IMDb message board for Swimming with Sharks (1994)
Recent Posts (updated daily)User
Song help mn_dawg
How much language is in this movie? Danman9833
WHO IS BUDDY ACKERMAN'S CHARACTER tempestl
This is not show business. It is ANY business feryhector
Q about the ending gypsy1969
here is what I realized about the ending (SPOILERS) avikonen
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