Matrixiole Simple and well acted, it has tension enough to knot the stomach.

Voxitype Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

Myron Clemons A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.

Haven Kaycee It is encouraging that the film ends so strongly.Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a particularly memorable film

charles-okell Its so very quotable and finds Spacey in fine form - "my pencil eraser means more to me than you do" has been uttered often by all my team in the studio!Given it has got low production values, the lighting is grainy and their attention to continuity is poor rather than 'on purpose' it does have a jovial, dark hummer that is much more widely accessible than say the likes of Anchor Man which was equally low budget relying on star quality.Do give it a go with friends and a few beers, it improves the experience no end and then watch Horrible Bosses, 21, Casino Jack and hope that Spacey churns the same character out at least a few more times before he disappears into the artistic roles his Thespian bent so clearly desires - he is a film treasure, under utilized and always great in a film... even when the film is rubbish (Casino Jack....)

writers_reign If it turned out that Kevin Spacey paid the Producers to play this role I wouldn't be surprised given that it is an actor's dream role and one that makes Kirk Douglas's Jonathan Shields in The Bad And The Beautiful seem like a wimp. Douglas himself, who revelled in playing characters like this would have probably gone to the mat with Robert Ryan to play Buddy Ackerman had this film been written when Douglas and Ryan were in their heyday. As it is Spacey hits one out of the park without even trying and the best thing is that there is fine support from the other two leads. Cyanide-laced screenplays about Hollywood are not exactly thin on the ground - we can cite, in chronological order, Sunset Boulevard, The Bad And The Beautiful and Cliff Odets' The Big Knife off the top of our heads and they all appeared within six years of each other in the fifties. Swimming With Sharks may lack the skillful screenplays all three boasted but it is still well worth a look.

itamarscomix Swimming With Sharks is original and daring, but very uneven. I've always been a sucker for films about filmmaking and Hollywood and as such I was willing to let a lot slide, but it had a few too many ups and downs, starting out with a very problematic and ambiguous mix of comedy and tragedy; it then reaches its peak in the second half, when it turns more and more into a full drama; but then disappoints with the ending. And without that ending, it would have been a truly singular film. As it is, it's still an interesting one well worth a watch, if only for Kevin Spacey's performance in the second half, that turns from over-the-top ham to utter and nasty subtlety.

thinker1691 Kevin Spacey arrived on the professional screen in 1986 and few people noticed his presence. Since then he has firmly established himself as a commanding actor, with such films as 'SeVen' and the dramatic suspense film ' The Usual Suspects.' Playing heavies comes natural to him as when he portrays sympathetic victims. In this movie called " Swimming with Sharks " Spacey displays true artistry. The film industry in Hollywood is a dog eat dog world and in order to survive that environment, one must become as vicious as a starving rottweiler. Buddy Ackerman (Kevin Spacey) is as heartless, ruthless, unsympathetic and ambivalent as a circling shark. His newly employed assistant arrives with great enthusiasm, brimming naivety and is called simply 'Guy' (Frank Whaley). No sooner does guy start his job, when Ackerman makes him believe he is working in the Devil's Domain, by treating him to an unending barrage of verbal and physical abuse. The situation becomes explosive when Ackerman discover's Guy's girlfriend Dawn Lockard (Michelle Forbes) is a former lover and now rival producer. Insulted, verbally berated and dressed down in front of every other employee in the office, Guy decides to give his boss a payback. The entire film is a triumph for Spacey and one which with the help of his co-stars has created a Classic for audiences everywhere. If you're strong enough to see Spacey as a monstrous Taskmaster, this is the movie for you. ****