Rating: 
Summary: If you want an alternative to typical Hollywood films...
Review: If you want an alternative to typical Hollywood films, try this one. There were a few parts here and there that left me scratching my head, but I did enjoy the movie, overall.Many French films never quite come through for me, even though I often enjoy certain aspects, such as the cinematography. Quite often, European films (especially French) feel like they have little in the way of a plot, and they just seem to drop the ending on you out of the blue somewhere between 90 and 180 minutes into the film. I liked this film because it combined some aspects of a typical French art film with those of a more mainstream film with a result that was better than many films from either gendre. In fact, I guess I would say that mixing gendres is a good thing in general. Hollywood movies often use sex in asinine ways. The intent is to entice the viewer, but often this fails just because it's so poorly conceived. (Not everyone watching the film is a sixteen-year-old boy!) This movie didn't try to overdo it. A few well chosen scenes of "La Divine" Sagnier swimming in the nude or nonchalantly chatting up the other woman while topless were enough to grab my attention and re-focus it on the movie at points where it was going a little slow for my taste. I was a bit baffled by the ending, but after thinking about it overnight, I think I have a better handle on it now. If it had been me, I might have staged that ending a little differently but, in any case, I do like movies that make you think, and this one does that. If you like things that are a bit different, give it a try.
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointingly tepid ...
Review: I took a chance on this and was disappointed that I did. The problem with this film is that it promises much yet delivers very little. For the most part, it's a slow burner: there seems to be a great deal going on under the surface and it's initially enjoyable trying to guess which direction it's going. Sadly, the direction is does go in is one of tired cliche. Everything built previously is left unexplored and the last 20 minutes collapses into a dull, predictable mess. A waste of time and talent. See this one before you buy.
Rating:
Summary: 3 stars a little generous for this one, try 2 1/2 at most
Review: This movie starts out with a British murder mystery writer suffering from writers block. Her editor lets her use his vacation home in France to rest up and perhaps be inspired.
She makes the trip, gets some inspiration along the way, and is able to start writing. Things are going well until the editor's daughter Julie, (late teens, early 20's?) shows up unannounced. The young lady seems to be a spoiled brat, doesn't pick up after herself, usually very noisy and brings a different man home for sex seemingly every night.
As time goes on the author eventually begins to be inspired by the brat's actions, even stealing her diary for material, and possibly even starts to like her a little. Murder enters into the story when Julie kills one of her men out by the swimming pool (was she goaded into it?), the author helps her hide the body.
In gratitude the Julie gives the author a copy of an unpublished manuscript written by her late mother,(the editor had burned what he thought was the only copy), with instructions to use it as she wishes.
The movie pretty much concludes with our author submitting the resulting manuscript and getting a rejection. She then produces a copy of the thing, already published, telling him she knew he'd reject it and took it some where else. She tells him I signed it for your daughter, give it to her, and leaves. On the way out the author meets the daughter going in. Here is where you learn that most of the movie was something like a dream sequence because Julie is Julia, not French and doesn't look at all like the French girl did.
I really liked the house where most of the movie was filmed, and even the nudity, most of it Julie, was well handled. Strip away those two components and this movie really didn't have much going for it. I saw Swimming Pool on pay per view, listed as unrated, if the nudity was removed this thing would put you to sleep it's so dull.
Rating: 
Summary: So Many Confilcting Opinions....
Review: I've been visiting AMAZON for some time now & never have I come across so many conflicting verdicts regarding a film. A lot of opinions seem to focus on the nudity..someone even had a problem with the amount of on-screen smoking. So many cinephiles are unfortunately hung over from years & years of being spoonfed on a diet of blockbusters & films where they demand every little detail be explained. While I must confess I was taken aback by the final minutes of the film regarding the true identity(or is that the true physical appearance?)of Julie/Julia, anyone who has seen ADAPTATION should be easily able to latch on to the twist ending. One only has to study Sarah's face as she watches her editor greet his daughter in his office. Her expression says it all. I think Charlotte Rampling was a knockout in this beautifully realised psychological study. So few actresses can say this much with their eyes & yet still barely move a muscle. Watch closely as her English resolve slowly disappears as she produces what will undoubtedly be her greatest work. Beautifully photographed, a haunting & sinister score and direction that takes it's time. Why? Because like the book she's writing, anything this great can't be rushed....
Rating: 
Summary: Skip this movie - the buzz is wrong
Review: There is nothing thrilling or suspenseful about Swimming Pool. I kept waiting for something to happen and when it did, it wasn't at all interesting. Granted, the nudity and sex help fill space, but even that can't save this movie from being boring. And I like twist or surprise endings as much as anyone but at least make them good. I waited and watched a hell of a long time for nothing to happen. For a truly suspenseful, thought-provoking and erotic thriller - buy Mulholland Drive.
Rating:
Summary: What is it?
Review: I didn't really get this movie. It wasn't thrilling enough to be a thriller, it wasn't mysterious enough to be a mystery, it wasn't sexual (...) erotic, it wasn't deep enough to be a character study, it wasn't French or English, it wasn't funny, happy, or sad, and it didn't make much sense. I have to admit that I needed some help understanding the twist ending, because I was looking for a more complicated explanation. I suppose that this movie is supposed to take you inside the head of an author. The acting was fine.
Rating:
Summary: Staid vs. Salacious
Review: This was a fun, unapologetically salacious movie told with a postmodern wink. Charlotte Rampling does well as a chilly mystery writer trying to find her muse in the French countryside, and Ludivine Sagnier slinks around winningly until she fits that role. For all of the sexuality that oozed from this film, and believe me, there's a lot of it, there was a dearth of attractive actors, which made me doubt that France contained anything but unappealing older men in banana hammocks. The plot becomes more unbelievable as the movie goes on, and the end does little to satisfy the holes in the script, and I'm not sure it really tries to. Instead, it mostly plays with the relationship between Rampling and Sagnier and, of course, with Rampling and herself. It also toys with the idea of narrative as a whole, and it has an abnormal pace, beginning very slow and deliberate and then barreling along at the end. It doesn't bother explaining itself, my forehead was scrunched up as the credits rolled, and it doesn't really come together the way you want it to, but it is entertaining. 7 out of 10.
Rating:
Summary: Well done... but still dry
Review: Swiming Pool is a very engrossing movie. It is quite good technically. Everything is very tight, and its everything is shown diliberately and seems to have more significance after you've seen the whole thing.
But as to the significance... it simply feels like it adds up to nothing. I agree that the trailer portrays this as more of a suspense thriller than a psychological study. Very interesting on the one hand, but also very hazy on a statement. I guess film buffs will enjoy it once or twice, and the general public won't even have the patience for it once (though they may stay for the nudity and sex scenes). Also loses points for the forced advertising, similar to the DVD of "Lost in Translation."
Rating:
Summary: returned without watching
Review: There are at least five minutes of ads at the beginning which you cannot skip over, and not just film trailers. If I pay for a DVD I'm not going to pay for mandatory commercials.
Rating:
Summary: Overrated
Review: I was really excited to see this DVD after reading all the praise it got. I found the actors interesting, but the film had no plot - none whatsoever. I thought that there could have been much more done with the actors and gorgeous setting the director/writer had to work with. Oh well.
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