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The Swimmer
The Swimmer
7.9
/10
1,171 Ratings

THE SWIMMER

Directed by Frank Perry, Sydney Pollack
United States, 1968
Drama

Synopsis

Neddy Merrill has been away for most of the summer. He reappears at a friend’s pool. As they talk, someone notices that there are pools spanning the entire valley. He decides to jog from pool to pool to swim the whole valley.

Synopsis

Neddy Merrill has been away for most of the summer. He reappears at a friend’s pool. As they talk, someone notices that there are pools spanning the entire valley. He decides to jog from pool to pool to swim the whole valley.

Our take

It was 1968, and Old Hollywood was giving way to New Hollywood. Based on a classic American short story by John Cheever (featuring scenes directed by an uncredited Pollack), this cult film is a dreamy, disturbing trip through alienated suburbia, with Burt Lancaster’s Adonis as an eerie memento mori.