Sunday, December 28, 2014

The Swimmer 1968


The Swimmer


     This film is based on a short story by John Cheevers published in the New Yorker.  Ned Merrill is an advertising executive and he has been away from his home in Westport Connecticut for most of the summer.  He visits friends at their pool one Sunday and he notices there are pools all along the valley on the path to his house.  He decides he will jog and swim back to his house.  Conveniently, he also is offered a drink at most of his stops.  Some friends are happy to see him and others want him to leave. 
     There are a lot of blanks in Ned’s history in this film?  His friends reveal some information but we don’t really know what happened to him, his marriage, his wife and his daughters and how long he has been away.  He doesn’t seem to see things as they are now or his what happened in his past very clearly.  The style of this film fits the age of 1968 with stylized shots and an overlay of the musical theme with these shots.  I thought this film stresses the visuals by sacrificing information and you are supposed to fill in the blanks.  3* (This movie is OK) 
 
95 min, Drama directed by Frank Perry, Sydney Pollack with Burt Lancaster, Janet Landgard, Janice Rule, Tony Bickley, Marge Champion, Nancy Cushman, Bill Fiore, David Garfield, Kim Hunter Rose, Gregorio.

Note:  Imdb 7.7 out of 10, 100% critic 83% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Roger Ebert 4*.








No comments:

Post a Comment