The Swimmer

Rating: PG

Movie Release Date: May 15, 1968

DVD Release Date: April 29, 2003

Plot 411: A man decides to swim his neighbors' pools on a journey home.

Review: I wanted to reserve judgement till the very end of this show, but now that it's over my original feelings of WTF still stand true. What the hell is this movie about? My initial feelings about the main character Ned (Burt Lancaster) are icky. The guy just gives off an extremely creepy vibe from the very first scene. He talks in riddles that even his friends do not quite comprehend. As the film goes on, you clearly see that he is disoriented about a lot of things. The movie begins with him randomly emerging out of the woods (a metaphor?) and onto the property of his wealthy old friends. He plots a course through the neighborhood and plans to swim through people's pools until he finally reaches his home. Apparently he's been away for a while and is welcomed with much delight. However, as his journey continues Ned runs into people who don't welcome him with open arms. He is clueless as to why they don't want him around, which is a symptom of his ongoing denial and repression. The real reason for his confusion is never revealed, but you can infer that he's had financial trouble in recent years. He seems to have fallen from his ivory tower, but he doesn't seem to realize it or want to acknowledge it. Is the movie trying to tell us that affluence is only fleeting? Is it showing us the negative effects of being a playboy? Is it trying to tell us not to be arrogant? Are we just supposed to watch the demise of this man? I don't really know, and this kind of annoys me. I sat watching this film with a solid WTF imprinted on my forehead from the very first few minutes and that WTF is still there at the film's conclusion. Another annoying thing about this movie are the weird camera angles that were selected in some scenes. Some shots are somewhat artistic, but I think they're actually supposed to reflect Ned's state of mind. Some of the action seems to "jump" ahead instead of transition in a smooth manner. Sometimes the dialogue seems to have been re-dubbed and doesn't match the scene. Is it to reflect Ned's instability? Does it mirror his own distortion? I have no clue.

Watch It: So you can tell me what it all means.

Skip It: Unless you like a movie that is purposely vague.