The Swimmer

the brilliance of lancaster's performance is that he sells both the masculine self-aggrandisement and the quivering wreck lurking beneath, sometimes simultaneously. the way the former quietly unravels into the latter adds a mocking lilt to that provocative tagline on the poster. there can't be many major studio films to address such inconvenient truths, to turn inward in a gradual, creeping way that coaxes the audience into doing the same. [Full review]

A fascinating and unique film, combining character study, social satire and quasi-religious allegory all at once. It never gets blatantly bizarre but you never lose sight of the fact that something is out of place, and Perry's direction has moments of great enigmatic beauty. Lancaster's performance sneaks up on you; at first he's a grinning archetype but he gradually reveals new layers and is quite devastating when the film reaches its powerful end. Challenging and rewarding cinema at its best.

My reaction to this was one of self-reflection as it awakened ancient truths about who I am and how and why I am that way. It made me think about my misbegotten misadventures and filthy embarrassments. I swam in high school though I don't know if I could do a full lap now. I could go pool to pool making my way back home if I did find myself in such an opportunity. I've also been having trouble sleeping though that may be unrelated. You know, I'm just talking about myself. !!! What a tagline!

I normally try to use all of my 500 characters when revewing movies on this site but I just can't summon the energy to waste my time on this. To borrow a gimmick from the great commenter, Gtown1479, when this film was over I turned to my date, incredulously asking, "What? Just, what? Why?! Why is this a movie? Why does this exist?" If I had a basket of plum tomatoes at my disposal while sitting through this, I would have started hurling them at my TV Fozzy Bear style. Hey, that's 500 characters!

This is a movie about a delusional, barefoot perv in swim trunks who NEEDS to swim in a lot of pools. And it takes him a really long time to do so. The end.

Great premise, unheard of. Even to have a big star in his swim trunks for the entire film is daring and sensual. And I don't mind that the tone is dated 60s overload, I just wish the inherent allegory was about more than something as generalized as "life". I hate even offering that interpretation, because nothing here is concrete, everything dream-like abstraction.

Interesting take on surrealism where normality is so aggressively stereotypical it only adds to the strangeness of Lancaster's character. It's a tone and atmosphere that could so easily be dismissed as cheesy, except Lancaster sells it so well that the most insane aspect of the film becomes its grounding. The film prompts many questions and, while it doesn't dig too deep, it provides a lot of general insight into social niceties and the many complexities bubbling underneath them.

A nightmarish trip that you can admire as much for being "clever" as you can for being a total trip. Of all the swimming in the movie it's the bits with the running that totally define the picture.

A clever and seductive descend into the truths of a man's unknown past. Each pool of memory becomes more toxic and unsettling as he confronts the reality. The critique of our upper class adds to this unbearable feeling to reflect and decide whether one is to be condemned for his life's choices. It's more of a nightmare, and the fact a "swimmer" is indeed naked amongst society makes the whole thing feel like a psychoanalysis. Better than I thought, but predictable with it's insisting dialogue

UQFR #133: A surreal and bleak allegory on the American Dream, or rather Nightmare. Burt Lancaster is fantastic as the suburban upper-class lothario, whose reality slowly comes undone with every pool he visits. The sense of uneasiness lingers throughout its runtime and accentuates the growing rot beneath the constructed social identities of New England suburbia.

A funny little gem from the past. Lancaster strides through several neighborhood backyard pools, all the while finding out more about himself. There are a few chalkboard-scratch moments (like with the babysitter) which tend to extend the running time. Enjoyable while watching it, but the ending makes you question too many bits on how it started to make this truly effective.

Burt Lancaster swims from one rich white person problem to the next until the pieces start assembling about his past. He's the figurative fish out of water compared to everyone else's mundane. He also comes across as creepy fairly early on w/r/t the former babysitter. Movie transitions from suburbian to engrossing. Fav scene: Janice Rule gives a powerful performance and seemingly channels Anne Bancroft.

phenomenal short story turned into an hour of Burt Lancaster (in skimpy swim trunks) trying to get with every woman in the county.

An initially elegant character study with a fantastic premise, eventually turning sour. As the details of Ned's life are gradually exposed, its complexities are subtly evident. Sadly, the last half-hour feels the inexplicable need to ever increasingly punish him for his vices, which I thought was a bluntly didactic way of ending a very good film.

What I love in this story was that it did not explain anything. You have to figure it out by yourself. Ned was clearly in the purgatory. Film needs several viewing to get closer picture what really happened to him that he deserved the state he ended up with. A beautiful, philosophical story with small details along the way.

It hasn't aged well, but Burt Lancaster has the gravitas to make this little parable interesting to watch.

A man is forced to realise that the currents have shifted, the summer has ended, and the time in which it is possible to live by denial has passed. The opening shots give the sense that the protagonist is returning from a long journey, but also give the feeling that the odyssey in question is not just psychological, mythological, sociological or even existential, but also cosmic: the story of the rise from out of “nature” of a most “noble and splendid” being, perhaps, but also the uncanniest.

Madness! Utter madness!

Bowled over Once I got over the initial "what is this" I was pretty well captivated throughout. The sense of decline is ever-present, even if it is hazy and ill-defined early on. This is probably the best I've seen Lancaster, his performance at an increasingly sharp contrast from the people around him.

I really had no idea you could make a film like this. Utterly bizarre, but magical and wonderful and gorgeous. It's a sort of Heart of Darkness in rural, upper middle class USA, as odd as the comparison may be. Lancaster delivers a stunning performance, and also I noticed that he and Stacy Keach share a resemblance.

I found it a frustrating watch for most of the time more than anything else, the women having to fend themselves off him to an extent. It does ok at portraying a sort of a surreal downfall of someone within the local community and the related social humiliation, with a decent performance by Burt Lancaster in the role as Ned. There is a poignancy to it by the end but its not too obvious early on how its going to end. A bit of a bizarre watch with an emphasis on symbolism. All in all a good film.

I'm not sure I totally got this, but I loved it. It's a haunting, disturbing, unique creation that starts strange and gets dark and strange as it moves along. It's a movie I'll definitely watch again. In many ways it's a mystery story, though a full solution is never presented. Just fascinating, beautiful stuff that works for reasons I can't totally understand. The score is stunning. I was reminded to some extent of the play Death of a Salesman.

I know people love this film. I have no idea why. It's an adaptation of a 12 page John Cheever story. Twelve pages. That seems about right for the relatively small revelation we get ... the upper middle class can be phony, shallow bastards sometimes. Okay.

Pilgrimage via pools. Sometimes in life you need a clear and simple purpose, such as swimming home by leap frogging from pool to pool. However, such clarity is no sure cure for your delusions. Maybe I am missing something and/or I lack empathy, but for me Neddy is 'full of shit' and deserves his fate. I've not read any of John Cheever's work, but I have seen the 'The Cheever Letters' episode of 'Seinfeld' many times. Top marks to Burt Lancaster for his limp (very convincing).

This is how you do surreal. Spoilers follow. This is kind of a descent into madness movie, but Ned is already mad at the start, but the movie slowly reveals that to us. There is all kinds of symbolism about the American Dream, lost youth, self gratification vs building lasting pieces in life etc and I will continue to revisit these as I think about and discuss this film for a time to come. Lancaster is masterful at reflecting many sides of Ned and you feel his anguish and his cluelessness.

Top badass moment? Burt must have feet of leather; he travels miles barefoot and not once does he tread on anything prickly. A slightly creepy guy in swimming trunks fails to use any sun cream, as he randomly turns up at neighbours’ homes to swim in their swimming pools. Thankfully, not a problem I’m likely to have to deal with as I don't have a pool in my flat, although the Kennet & Avon Canal isn’t far away; except swimming in it is against the Byelaws. No cats, chainsaws or decapitations.

70

Lancaster is good but the rest give stiff performances. Music is very cheesy and crazy loud in parts.

Lancaster is perfect casting in this strong little character study.

quite depressing

Fruity Technicolor melodrama meets brow-furrowing, chest-beating anguish. Unforgettably weird and punchy, more Twilight Zone than New Yorker. The type of story has been told often, but rarely this creatively.

watched: 2020, 2023

Viewed March 19, 2020.

"The Swimmer" is a character study, and it's watchable because Lancaster makes it that way. There were a lot of scenes between pools where they tried to use music and camera movement to create interest that didn't work. It's worth watching, but it's not Lancaster's best character study type film.

bizarre, peculiar

American 'Dream', or 'Nightmare'?

A truly original and meaningful movie. Outstanding performance by Lancaster! A hauntingly beautiful soundtrack as well.

Love the way how it slowly reveal how delusional Lancaster's character is.

deliciously bizarre

This struck me deeply, just a marvelous film all around.

The usual Frank Perry stuff--if you like that sort of thing.

If you can get yourself to sit through it, it's worth it.