This curious picture which could never break out from the art houses is one where Burt Lancaster gives a fine performance, maybe one of his best. The type of story that this is based on is one however that does not translate easily to the screen and the overall results are less than the top.
The Swimmer is based on a John Cheever short story and it's about a man who decides while visiting friends at one end of Fairfield County to swim in all the pools that the folks in his rich set have built on the way home. As he visits each home bit by bit we learn about him and the results in the end show a man quite frankly at the end of his rope.
Burt Lancaster probably was uniquely qualified to play Neddy Merrill. He was 54 when he made The Swimmer, but Lancaster who started out as a circus acrobat always kept himself in good physical shape. By the time he made The Swimmer he had the acting chops as well as the physical appearance to pull off the part.
More from the reaction shots of the people around him although their dialog becomes more and more explicit as time goes on, we learn about Lancaster's fall from grace in the set. He was a man who had achieved the American dream, wife, two daughters, big home in the fanciest of suburbs. But that's all fallen apart for him as bit by bit of his life and character are revealed. The last shots of Lancaster as he achieves this goal tell you all how worthless the swim trip has been.
Lancaster's best scenes are with young Michael Kearney as he tells him being the best early on won't necessarily translate to the good life. Also with Janet Landgard who was 'introduced' in this film after playing Paul Petersen's girlfriend on the Donna Reed Show. She was a beautiful young woman, wonder whatever happened to her.
We also cannot forget that encounter with his former mistress Janice Rule. She really cuts him down to size, but shows pangs of regret doing it. You also get a good picture of Lancaster's wife who is never seen who must have been obsessed with keeping up with the rich Jones that hang out in her neighborhood. His wife and kids must have sucked the life out of him.
The Swimmer was not a film for the mass market and parts of it are better than others. It starts out actually quite dull, but picks up more and more as you reach a shattering climax. Definitely an unusual assignment for Burt Lancaster.
The Swimmer is based on a John Cheever short story and it's about a man who decides while visiting friends at one end of Fairfield County to swim in all the pools that the folks in his rich set have built on the way home. As he visits each home bit by bit we learn about him and the results in the end show a man quite frankly at the end of his rope.
Burt Lancaster probably was uniquely qualified to play Neddy Merrill. He was 54 when he made The Swimmer, but Lancaster who started out as a circus acrobat always kept himself in good physical shape. By the time he made The Swimmer he had the acting chops as well as the physical appearance to pull off the part.
More from the reaction shots of the people around him although their dialog becomes more and more explicit as time goes on, we learn about Lancaster's fall from grace in the set. He was a man who had achieved the American dream, wife, two daughters, big home in the fanciest of suburbs. But that's all fallen apart for him as bit by bit of his life and character are revealed. The last shots of Lancaster as he achieves this goal tell you all how worthless the swim trip has been.
Lancaster's best scenes are with young Michael Kearney as he tells him being the best early on won't necessarily translate to the good life. Also with Janet Landgard who was 'introduced' in this film after playing Paul Petersen's girlfriend on the Donna Reed Show. She was a beautiful young woman, wonder whatever happened to her.
We also cannot forget that encounter with his former mistress Janice Rule. She really cuts him down to size, but shows pangs of regret doing it. You also get a good picture of Lancaster's wife who is never seen who must have been obsessed with keeping up with the rich Jones that hang out in her neighborhood. His wife and kids must have sucked the life out of him.
The Swimmer was not a film for the mass market and parts of it are better than others. It starts out actually quite dull, but picks up more and more as you reach a shattering climax. Definitely an unusual assignment for Burt Lancaster.