Rating: 
Summary: Terrific little black comedy with a twist
Review: Although "Wiseguy" and "Glengarry GlenRoss" were behind him, Kevin Spacey was still a year away from"Se7en" and "The Usual Suspects" when he starred in this nifty number about the boss from hell as movie executive. Spacey hounds and torments his latest assistant, played by Frank Whaley, and tries to decide whether to option a film proposal by luscious director Michelle Forbes. Forbes hooks up with Whaley as a method of getting to Spacey, and Whaley eventually turns the tables on and tortures his boss.There are lots of hilarious lines, but the one I remember best is: "You're happy -- I HATE that!" . . . Whaley's performance is a bit weak. The romance between him and Forbes (who is delectable but not given that much to do -- pity her meaty lead in Peter Berg's promising 2000 series "Wonderland" disappeared when the network axed the controversial show after just two episodes) is sketchy and not terribly believable. And, deliciously shocking though the ending is, it strains credulity too. But Spacey ... ah, god, Spacey; has he EVER flopped in a role? END
Rating: 
Summary: One of my Favorites...
Review: I chanced upon this movie by accident. I rented it at Blockbuster because it starred Kevin Spacey and I think there was some comparison to Robert Altman's The Player, which I loved. I was unprepared for what I got. First, you have Spacey, my favorite actor currently working today in one of his most brilliant performances ever. I think his turn as Mel Proffit on Wiseguy is the only job he has done that I like better. Next, you have Frank Whaley, a talented young actor who slips between extremes of timid uncertainty at the beginning of his job with Buddy, to icy cool professionalism toward the end. He also shows a warm caring side with his girlfriend (played very smartly by the sexy Michelle Forbes) as well as a psychotic off the deep end side when he takes Spacey's character hostage. I loved it on first viewing. I found a used copy of it about a month later and purchased it immediately. I have watched this film about 25 times in the last 5 years, and it never gets old. It is fresh and blackly funny every time I watch it. One thing that I have noticed on many repeat viewings is that Spacey's Buddy Ackerman character is really a much nicer guy than he appears. It is my belief after viewing this film so many times that Buddy actually does care for Guy. You can see it in the little grins that he gives after he has reamed Guy out for something, and in the way that all of his advice is based on his own personal experience. I don't think that Buddy is lying when he tells Guy that after a year with him, Guy will be ready for anything. He is deliberately cruel in a very educational way. I believe that he is trying to get Guy to accept the realism of the terrible, unfair Hollywood system, and that he really does mean for Guy to follow in his footsteps, but is being intentionally brutal in an attempt to quickly teach Guy the lessons that it took Buddy himself 10 years to learn. I also think the ending is one of the most effective twists I have ever seen on film, and proves my point that Buddy actually does care about Guy and wants him to succeed. This movie is a must see for anyone who is interested in the Hollywood studio system and wants to see a viciously funny black comedy. It is also highly recommended if you are a Kevin Spacey fan. I'm really waiting to see a complete review of the quality on the DVD for this film before I go out and purchase it. This is definitely one of my top 10 favorite films of the last 5 or 6 years. Buy it now and laugh yourself silly.
Rating:
Summary: Outstanding Film...Clearly one of Spacey's best performances
Review: What I found curious though, was how they packaged this film on the cover. Hilarious?! This is not a comedy, trust me. It's a very dark, twisted drama if anything. Kevin Spacey plays a demanding studio boss who acquires a new intern, played sheepishly by actor Frank Whaley. Look for a cameo by Benicio
Del Toro, long before his Traffic film. What makes this film worth owning is the outstanding dialogue, highly quotable cut
downs, and belittlement that Spacey inflicts on his poor intern.
The intern feels that these are the things he must go through to be a big time sudio boss himself one day. However, when a woman comes between boss and intern, the intern snaps and kidnaps his boss. The intern then tortures him, and makes him realize all the humiliation he inflicted. This film also has a great plot twist you'll never see coming. For me, this film just solidified in my mind what an outstanding actor Kevin Spacey really is!
Rating:
Summary: wonderful!
Review: a classic tale of corporate comeuppance Kevin Spacey and Frank Whaley are wonderful.Benicio Del Toro has a cameo as Kevin Spacey's former assistant who has gone on to better things.a must see!
Rating:
Summary: Welcome to the real world!
Review: I saw this movie coming out of college, and I was startled, and dissapproving, and honestly hated the character that Kevin Spacey played. I saw this movie recently, 3 years later, and I laughed a great deal. The movie is shocking, hilarious, stark, dark, unrealistic, and at the same time very real. Believe it or not, I get the same damn treatment every day behind more polite behavior. Regardless of what business you are in, the price of ambition is the same, and it is very well illustrated in this movie. The price of ambition is often times killing your own ideals and feelings as well the hopes and desires of your closest people. The price of ambition is giving up yourself and what you stand for. The price of ambition is humiliation. Every young fool that is coming out of college or high-school and has all these high-minded romantic ideas about the world and the people around them needs to see this movie. The play of the actors is good. Kevin Spacey style certainly shows up, but more important is the story and the message. Welcome to the real world!
Rating: 
Summary: Amateurish in many ways but its does pull through
Review: "Swimming with Sharks" is a film that strives to do well considering its limitations and eventually succeeds by a wonderful powerhouse performance from Kevin Spacey. The film essentially has been given a boost by actors who where relative unknowns for their time - Spacey, Del Toro and Whaley. This would have been your average low-budget TV film about Hollywood if Spacey and Del Toro where not there. The script itself has been written for budget restrictions. Nearly all the movie takes place inside a business office. The film does suffer from looking like a high-end production that ends up being bad, but is in fact a low-end production that ends up being good. It depends on which angle you take it from and mainly because this film was released in mass after Spacey became well known through films like "The Usual Suspects" and "Seven". Many people found it a great movie but lacking the kind of budget they expected. Yes, this movie could be described as some of those more "unknown" films that suddenly pop out from nowhere when an actor breaks into the big time like all those early films which claim to show a nude Leo DeCaprio. It does fit into the category or "resurrected early works". However "Swimming with Sharks" is actually a very good movie about an extremely simple premise. Film producer executive from hell hires an assistant who he proceeds to psychologically rip apart at any given opportunity. Assistant looses the plot and plans to torture his boss to death. Its the sort of film that has mass appeal because people can relate to it. Spacey is excellent as the sadistic producer and Whaley is good, but not great, as the tortured assistant turning torturer - literally. There is a sub-plot about a woman director who moves between the two men and the ending is somewhat unrealistic or surreal but not totally out of place. The ending is darker than the rest of the film which is more comical in nature. Even for all its misfires and dud plot lines this is a film that should be watched for Spacey doing the horrible boss routine and for that alone the film can be forgiven for all its more minor mistakes. Simply Spacey.
Rating:
Summary: nobody wins, unless somebody looses
Review: This film is for everybody who ever wanted to be in the movie biz.
Rating:
Summary: AN UNDERRATED MASTERPIECE
Review: The movie is very simple, with just three main characters, and has the least complicated of plots: it simply deals with a tormenting employer, and how his tormented employee avenges his tormentor; simple, isn't it? Yet, I am amazed as to how one can make such a masterpiece considering it has the most of the trite of plots. The reason to this is also simple: a bit of outré 'creativity' by the movie-director, and of course, Mr. Kevin Spacey.
The movie wouldn't be half as good without Spacey, who is the life of the movie. Though he plays the part of the villain, he is more adorable than anyone else in the movie. The whole of the 90 min. of the movie is full of Spacey, and his mordant dialogues. Though one is supposed to feel sorry for Frank Whaley, for the inclement treatment he receives from Spacey, one doesn't. On the contrary, one rather wants that Spacey continue this treatment, so that he (Spacey) could continue treating the viewer with his fantabulous dialogue-delivery of some of the most acerbic dialogues ever written. It is amazing that one actually ends up laughing throughout the major part of this otherwise subfusc movie, thanks to Spacey.
Though Spacey has got a lot to do with making this movie, a treat to watch, the exceptional direction is also worth a mention. Though George Huang had nothing much to play with, as far as this movie is concerned, which mainly consists of exchange of dialogues, and very little of anything else, with some 'intelligent' creativity from him, he has managed to make this a very interestingly directed movie. The interesting direction comes from the really weird arrangement of the movie, especially the non-chronological ordering of the scenes.
The climax of the movie is unpredictable, and one of the best ever. The whole course of the movie changes drastically in the last five minutes. As a matter of fact, though the movie puts on a funny façade throughout, one actually feels quite sad after the movie ends, feeling sorry for Michelle Forbes, especially. This is where beauty lies in the movie: though it makes you laugh throughout, you actually feel 'punched in the face', at the end. The movie truly exemplifies the 'dog-eat-dog' world, in which all of us live.
Rating:
Summary: Worth renting for Kevin Spacey fans
Review: I was expecting a comedy and was therefore a bit appalled by the intensity and violence. Be warned, this is not a comedy. Kevin Spacey is wonderful, the surrounding cast horrid. The female producer character is far too old for the male lead and the ending is lame and contrived. That said, if you like Kevin, it's really worth screening. What a talent.
Rating:
Summary: Hilarious
Review: This movie is hilarious. This movie which involves an egotisitcal bigwig of Keystone Pictures - Buddy Ackerman(Spacey) and his new assistant - Guy(Frank Whaley). Buddy treats guy basically like a piece of meat..go get this go get that. He back stabs him and doesn't give him the credit he deserves. But, sure enough, Guy turns the tables on Buddy is a weird series of tortures and insults. The movie has a twist at the end that will surprise you. Kevin Spacey is incredible with the part of Buddy Ackerman. He deserves better than what the critics have said about this movie. It is a must see for anyone who like black comedy.
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