Rating: 
Summary: I would definitely go for a swim with Ludivine Sagnier!
Review: Interesting movie with a thought provoking finale that will leave you thinking and thinking for hours to come. I hate doing reviews cuz I think films should speak for themselves...but here is my overall opinion without giving anything away. I wasn't expecting an ending like that to tell you the honest truth. the finale is by all means the savior of the film. The movie is very relaxing and erotic, even though, and based by other reviews, I was waiting for something even more erotic and lotz and lotz more nudity...but I was wrong. It does contain nudity but nothing espectacular...well, I'm sorry... Ludivine Sagnier nude body is espectacular. I don't consider this film to be an actual thriller because I never felt any tension to be honest. It starts out pretty convincing and then starts to get a bit slow...very slow in some points, but there is exactly when Sagnier's character walks in and everything begins to take place... Beautifully filmed, great acting, sharp editing, good (not great) intriguing and itelligent storyline, nice soundtrack and beautiful locations and of course, Ludivine Sagnier makes this diferent film a must see! Not a great film, but very good!
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting but Strange Art Film
Review: First things first. This is defintely an art film. Epitomizing the spirit of independent filmmaking, this is not your typical Hollywood schlock. There is some level of eroticism, but more on the level of couched voyeurism than open sexuality, although Ludivine Sagnier's Julie prances around topless for a good bit of the film.Once the film gets going, the plot is interesting enough, but the first twenty minutes of setup are difficult to get through. There is minimal exposition or even dialogue. Director Ozon simply takes us through the daily routine of Charlotte Rampling's repressed and frustrated author. The methodical, almost silent vision of her daily routine almost lulls the viewer to sleep, and more of this portion of the film could have easily been added to the "deleted scenes" and improved the flow of the film immensely. Still, once Rampling finally begins to open up to Sagnier, the story begins to move, and apart from lascivious and somewhat abrupt plot twists near the conclusion of the film, keeps the viewer interested in the film. Sadly, the last few moments of the film introduce a variable which leaves the entire plot of the film open to multiple interpretations. While I'm sure this was the intention of Ozon, I prefer most of my entertainment to be more cut and dried, providing more closure. At least other films like Donnie Darko and Mullholland Drive are consistently odd throughout. Swimming Pool leads the viewer down the garden path, and suddenly, in the final moments of the film, causes the viewer to question his or her entire interpretation of the sequence of events. An interesting film, but one that unfortunately spends too much time treading water in the shallow end.
Rating: 
Summary: BOYCOTT THIS DVD!
Review: Don't get me wrong, this is a great movie. But by all means, borrow it, rent it, just PLEASE don't buy it! Why am I advocating such a boycott? Upon inserting the disc into your DVD player, you will be unfortunately assaulted by a nasty hybrid of the lastest marketing scam and technology; THE UNINTERRUPTIBLE MOVIE PREVIEW. That's right: While movie previews on a DVD may not be anything new, a complete lock-out of the player controls certainly is! Universal has 7 minutes and 21 seconds of movie previews and during that time, the disc is authored to lock out nearly the entire DVD player functionality suite; the Main Menu, Chapter Forward (and, most unbelievably) the Player STOP commands do not function! You can't skip or even stop the player while the preview is running! The only function that responds is the Fast Forward key, programmed presumably with the inane logic that you are going to watch the previews, either in real time of in FF mode, but you are GOING to watch the previews, come hell or high water. I verified this disc feature on three different DVD players: a Pioneer DV-38A, a Pioneer DVR-7000 DVD-R/W recorder (both expensive, upper-end players) and a JVC XV-N44 all-region unit. I found this to be an intrusive and offensive feature. Where are the studio marketing departments going to stop? What next? Is some studio marketing numbnut going to have my player opening and closing the disc tray repeatedly, the electronic equivalent of sticking its tongue out at me when I try to pass some inane preview or other marketing content? Hey, Universal? I stopped going to theaters years ago, with crappy projection systems, dim projector bulbs, shoddy or non-functional surround systems, overpriced tickets & food, cell phone calls, babies screaming, sticky floors, and really bad commercials at theater system volume, not to mention just terrible films. So now, I can stop buying Universal DVD's, too, and post this encouragement for others to boycott you also: If you absolutely need to see a Universal film, just rent it, don't buy it! Better yet, borrow it! Hit Universal in its pocketbook where it hurts!
Rating:
Summary: A Mostly Effective Erotic Thriller
Review: Makers of erotic thrillers need to be careful, as that is a genre that, if not handled carefully, can quickly fall prey to silliness and excess (think "Fatal Attraction"). "Swimming Pool" is a thriller in the style of "The Deep End," and more than once I was struck by similarities between the two in their respective tones and reliance on water as a recurring visual motif. Also, both films have a middle-aged female as the protagonist who becomes involved in covering up for the actions of a child (in "The Deep End" a literal child, in "Swimming Pool" a figurative one). Also, both films are completely unpredictable. Neither goes the direction in which the viewer thinks it's going to. However, "Swimming Pool" is much more abstract, and its ending leaves you wanting to watch the whole thing over immediately with an entirely different perspective on the action. This gimmick always makes for a memorable ending in movies that employ it, but too often it makes the rest of the movie seem somewhat pale in comparison, and this is the case here. "Swimming Pool" plays tricks with your perceptions, but the finale to which the film builds seems somewhat anti-climactic when it finally comes. It's a leisurely paced film, and you'll need to have patience with it. You'll also need to have patience with the main character, played by Charlotte Rampling. Rampling gives a fine performance, but her character is really unlikable (intentionally so), and it's always a liability for any story that focuses almost solely on one person to make that person unlikable, or at least sympathetic. "Swimming Pool," though billed as an erotic thriller, is really about the creative process (I think), and I won't say anymore about that because to do so will give away the ending. It's an interesting idea, imperfectly executed. Grade: B
Rating: 
Summary: A cheat
Review: Using a gimmick usually found in books by new authors or ones who have run out of solutions, this movie ultimately disappoints. The acting and plot hold you, until it shortchanges you.
Rating: 
Summary: movie
Review: I think the woman writing the book was actually the whole movie, and that what we were watching was the book she published in the end. I think this because the writer (older woman) always said she writes crime books and mysteries and stuff and thats what happens in the movie. The lady just put her self as a character in the book with Julie. And Julie and her are first enemies then become allies when the murder happens. I liked this film. It moved slow and confusing and times but I think I understood the twisting plot and I love Ludivine (Julie). I always have. Good movie.
Rating:
Summary: One of the worst films I have ever seen.
Review: I absolutely hated this film. I found no redeeming qualities in it at all. Most of my favorite films are art house and foreign but this was a pathetic attempt at intellectual film making. A minimum of dialogue and lack of plot development until the last scenes makes for an unnecessary long experience. The editors and director made use of long shots and pans like a first year film student. I almost walked out on the film after watching three consecutive panning shots in different directions. The director has failed when the audience looks at its watch. Anyone claming that the ending was anything but a trite example of meta-fiction I refer them to 8 ½ and Curt Vonnegut for far more intelligent and well done examples. I find it hard to believe that this film claims to be suspenseful. I yawned my way thru the "suspense scenes" of the last quarter of the film in spite of the overly dramatic and at times corny score telling me how to feel. I felt like I was watching a "made for TV movie" that took its self too seriously. If you have seen swimming Pool you might agree there is a sliver of unintentional brilliance in the film. The author/protagonist was tired of writing commercial mass market throw-away books and despite how hard she tried and what the score told you, what she created (the plot) was just that, crap. If the director wanted to use the ending he did why not make the story INTERESTING. When I left the theater I heard one of the theater goers say "I didn't understand it but I liked it". I didn't think that was possible. If your looking for something with subtitles that will make you feel smart and cultured try Igmar Berman's The Seventh Seal, Thru a Glass Darkly etc. Fedrico Fellini's 8 1/2 , Vittorio De Sico's Umberto D., and anything by Akira Kurosawa.
Rating:
Summary: Yowie!
Review: What a great, twisted, erotic, interesting movie. And it's got Charlotte Rampling in it, which is always a plus. If you're into breasts, guys, this film devotes lots of time focusing on the rather nice ones (not to put too fine a point on it) of Ludivine Sagnier.
But aside from the nudity and the sex and the explicit filming, it's one heck of a great plot, sort of a book within a life within a movie. Here's the deal: Rampling is a successful crime fiction writer. She goes to her publisher's home in France and is basking in the serenity and privacy when, unannounced, the publisher's daughter (Sagnier) shows up and conducts her free-wheeling lifestyle right under the author's upturned British nose. Hostility ensure ' and then mellows to the point at which the two women become friends, of a sort, and become intertwined with each other in ways which to tell more would be to say too much in a review. The British author becomes a voyeur ' and we viewers also feel like voyeurs as we delve into the murky and shifting plot depths, trying to figure out what the heck is really going on, in life, in the pool, in the book, and in the movie.
It's a heck of a good winner. And BE SURE you see the unrated version, not the R-rated one.
Rating:
Summary: A Fascinating look inside a writer's mind
Review: French director and writer Francois Ozon has created a moody and compelling film in "Swimming Pool." Charlotte Rampling stars as Sarah Morton, a prim and conventional English mystery writer who goes to the south of France in search of inspiration. There she encounters the other two main characters: An old swimming pool and her publisher's sensuous French daughter, Julie (Ludivine Sagnier). Sarah's pastoral serenity is soon disrupted as she becomes involved in the girl's unconventional and mysterious life.
I loved this movie. It has a leisurely pace and there is little in the way of action, and yet I found it mesmerizing. The hypnotic intimacy we experience as we watch Sarah write her new book is utterly compelling. There is an vague feeling of unease and fear from the moment Sarah arrives in France. While all is outwardly calm and controlled, events gradually build to a thrilling climax and beyond that, an ending that makes the viewer reevaluate the entire movie. The excellent musical score matches the enigmatic mood of the film.
Charlotte Rampling is perfect as the proper and cranky old maid who lets her hair down in a big way, once she is under the spell of the luscious Provence countryside. Ludivine Sagnier (seen recently as the delightful Tinkerbell in Peter Pan) is well-cast as the in-your-face, amoral young stranger who changes Sarah's life. I think this is mainly a chick-flick, although there is ample nudity to keep the guys watching, too. If you like quiet, atmospheric movies that make you experience the characters' emotions and really think about what you've seen, you'll enjoy "Swimming Pool."
Rating:
Summary: A twisted arthouse mystery
Review: Charlotte Rampling stars in this odd, atmospheric, murderous mystery, in which a snappish, menopausal middle aged British mystery writer is induced by her publisher to avail herself of the use of French country house, and try to just chill out a little. When she gets there, though, she finds the house is also inhabited by the publisher's unacknowledged French daughter, a wild, uninhibited Gallic nymphette, who tries to make peace with her crabby new neighbor, and then just gives up and goes out clubbing every night instead. There are a lot of aspects of this film that make it appealing -- the odd psychosexual interplay between the two women, the constant misdirection by the filmmakers, and, above all, Rampling's tour de force performance as one of the strangest and most deeply flawed characters to hit the screen in quite some time. The first half of the film is the most unsettling and the best, but despite an unfulfilling (and possibly illusory) resolution, this is still a pretty captivating film... Nice to see the Europeans still make 'em like this! ------------------------------- PS - Semi-spoiler: I guess I include myself among those who think the whole thing was a product of her imagination.
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