RottenTomatoes.com
Log In | Register | What is RT?
RT's Blu-ray HQ
  • Home
  • Movies
  • DVD
  • Celebrities
  • News
  • Critics
  • Trailers & Pictures
  • CommunityBeta
  • Box Office
  • | In Theaters
  • | Opening
  • | Upcoming
  • | Best Of
  • | Certified Fresh
  • | Showtimes
RT Search Powered by Google
help icon Enhanced RT
searches on Google
Click here to turn on enhanced search results from RT on your Google searches.
 
Movies / On DVD / The Swimmer
The Swimmer

Rate this Movie Help Icon

  • Write a Review
  • Read Reviews
  • Add to List
  • Get this Movie
  • Buy Poster External Icon
Bookmark and Share

The Swimmer (1968)

  • T-Meter Critics
  • Top Critics
  • RT Community
  • My Critics
  • My Friends
  • DVD
100 %
Tomatometer
Template ImageTemplate ImageTemplate Image

How does the Tomatometer work Help Icon

Reviews Counted:18

Fresh:18

Rotten:0

Average Rating:7.7/10

Runtime: 1 hr 35 mins

Genre: Dramas

Synopsis: Burt Lancaster stars in this adaptation of John Cheever's dreamlike short story about one man's highly unusual attempt to find meaning in his life. On the morning after a booze-filled night, Ned... Burt Lancaster stars in this adaptation of John Cheever's dreamlike short story about one man's highly unusual attempt to find meaning in his life. On the morning after a booze-filled night, Ned Merrill wakes up in a haze, confronted by the sterility of his isolated, wealthy suburban existence. So he decides to traverse this upper-class world swimming pool by swimming pool: he goes to each neighbor's house, swims through the chlorinated waters of the requisite backyard pool, and chats with the owner. Among the people he sees are his longtime mistress, a sexy babysitter and a couple of politically-liberal (or so they believe) nudists. This interesting, overlooked film, is a visually captivating look at the essential emptiness of the "American Dream." [More]

Starring: Burt Lancaster, Janet Landgard, Janice Rule, Tony Bickley

Starring: Burt Lancaster, Janet Landgard, Janice Rule, Tony Bickley, Marge Champion, Kim Hunter, Rose Gregorio, Charles Drake

Director: Frank Perry

Director: Frank Perry
Screenwriter: Eleanor Perry
Producer: Frank Perry, Roger Lewis
Composer: Marvin Hamlisch

[See More Credits]

Get This Movie

Rent DVD
 
 

Click on the "ADD" button to put this movie into your Netflix queue.

 
 
Buy DVD
 
 
Release:

Apr 29, 2003

No Details Exist
 
 

Reviews for The Swimmer

  • T-Meter Critics
  • Top Critics
  • RT Community
  • My Critics
  • My Friends
  • DVD
 
 
1 - 19 (sorted by rotten rating)
Text View
Arrange By:Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Variety | comment Comment
03/26/09
Variety

Frequently silly but oddly memorable and unsettling.

Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide | comment Comment
10/30/07
TV Guide's Movie Guide

A mannerist, moody and wonderfully strange allegory of the squandered American Dream. Like a plunge into the deep end, it stings and refreshes.

Full Review Source: Channel 4 Film | comment Comment
05/24/03
Channel 4 Film

No review available.

comment Comment
11/23/04
Andy Klein
Andy Klein
Los Angeles CityBeat

No review available.

comment Comment
08/22/03
Carol Cling
Carol Cling
Las Vegas Review-Journal

Ned Merrill is a tragic hero for the '60s, and it's one of Lancaster's most searing performances.

Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com | comment Comment
10/11/05
Christopher Null
Christopher Null
Filmcritic.com

No review available.

comment Comment
09/01/08
Cole Smithey
Cole Smithey
ColeSmithey.com

No review available.

comment Comment
06/13/05
Emanuel Levy
Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com

A largely loony but oddly compulsive allegory.

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
06/24/06
Geoff Andrew
Geoff Andrew
Time Out

A resounding commercial flop, this has since been recognized as a signature 60s film, prescient in its view of American self-deception.

Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | comment Comment
10/30/07
J. R. Jones
J. R. Jones
Chicago Reader

No review available.

comment Comment
03/08/05
Jonathan R. Perry
Jonathan R. Perry
Tyler Morning Telegraph (Texas)

An enigmatic, poetic, disturbing, interestingly pretentious fable.

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
06/01/03
Kim Newman
Kim Newman
Empire Magazine

No review available.

comment Comment
07/09/03
Michael Szymanski
Michael Szymanski
Zap2it.com

Like a series of hammer-blows to the gut.

Full Review Source: culturevulture.net | comment Comment
10/08/01
Phil Freeman
Phil Freeman
culturevulture.net

No review available.

comment Comment
12/08/02
Philip Martin
Philip Martin
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

Burt Lancaster is superb in his finest performance.

Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | comment Comment
10/23/04
Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Director Frank Perry's cult favorite

Full Review Source: rec.arts.movies.reviews | comment Comment
01/01/00
Shane Burridge
Shane Burridge
rec.arts.movies.reviews

No review available.

comment Comment
01/24/04
Spence D.
Spence D.
IGN Movies

As do few movies, The Swimmer stays in the memory like an echo that never quite disappears.

Full Review Source: New York Times | comment Comment
05/09/05
Vincent Canby
Vincent Canby
New York Times
 
 
1 - 19 (sorted by rotten rating)
Text View
all

Latest News for The Swimmer

July 07, 2006: Wassup, Larry Clark? Director Talks Teens and Breaking Bones
Photographer and director Larry Clark chatted with Rotten Tomatoes staffer Michael Campos-Quinn about his new film, "Wassup Rockers," which opens in limited release... More...

See All

More DVDs

Close
Top Rentals
Tomatometer Percentage Movie
66% 66% Public Enemies
83% 83% Harry Potter and the H…
44% 44% Night at the Museum: B…
75% 75% Julie & Julia
32% 32% Terminator Salvation

More Rentals…

New On DVD This Week
Tomatometer Percentage Movie
90% 90% District 9
86% 86% 500 Days of Summer
63% 63% Extract
06% 06% All About Steve
78% 78% It Might Get Loud

More New Releases…

See All

RT On Current TV

The Rotten Tomatoes Show on Current TV

DIRECTV 358 | Comcast 107 | DISH Network 196 | More...

Learn how you can be part of the show

More...

What’s Hot On RT

Sherlock Holmes

Sherlock Holmes

New clips from the detective reboot!

Iron Man 2

Iron Man 2

Watch the brand new trailer now!

Awards Tour

Awards Tour

Keep up with latest nominations and awards!

RT on DVD & Blu-Ray

RT on DVD & Blu-Ray

District 9 & 500 Days of Summer

Other News

Close
  • Top Stories
  • Popular
  • Interviews
 
 

Comments

 
 
Top Stories
Headlines Comments
  
  • Danny Trejo Talks Machete, Possible Sequels Source: Collider.com
11
  • It's Official: Jackass 3-D Coming in 2010 Source: Collider.com
16
  • Bryan Singer Returning to X-Men for First Class Source: Superhero Hype
102
  • Mark Strong Talks Kick-Ass, John Carter, and Robin Hood Source: Collider.com
1
  • How Avatar Happened: The Path to Innovation Source: CinemaBlend.com
19
  • Rob Marshall Says Pirates 4 Is Still a Maybe Source: ComingSoon.net
32
  • ET Teases Iron Man 2 Teaser Source: Collider.com
28
  • Tobey Maguire Refutes Hobbit Rumors Source: Hollywood Reporter
9
  • Prince of Persia Featurette Posted Source: Yahoo! Movies
4
  • Trailer Bulletin: Robin Hood Source: ComingSoon.net
61
Popular
Headlines Comments
  
  • Critics Consensus: Avatar Is Certified Fresh
309
  • Box Office Guru Wrapup: Avatar Soars to #1 Spot
218
  • Awards Tour 2009: Golden Globe Noms Here!
145
  • Brittany Murphy: 1977-2009
99
  • Total Recall: James Cameron Movies
89
  • Awards Tour 2009: SAG Nominations Are In!
43
  • Weekly Ketchup: Bryan Singer Teaches X-Men: First Class
43
  • Five Favorite Films With Peter Jackson
33
  • Friday Harvest: Alice in Wonderland, Sherlock Holmes, and more!
14
  • RT on DVD & Blu-Ray: District 9 and (500) Days of Summer
14
Interviews
Headlines Comments
  
  • Five Favorite Films With Peter Jackson
33
  • Robert Downey Jr. talks Sherlock Holmes & Iron Man 2 - RT Interview
21
  • Director Ruben Fleischer Talks Zombieland
2
  • "I Don't Hate Women": Lars von Trier on Antichrist
17
  • Eric Bana talks Love the Beast - RT Interview
12
  • Fight Club Sound Designer Reflects on Film's 10th Anniversary
23
  • James Schamus talks Taking Woodstock - RT Interview
8
  • John Hurt Talks Harry Potter, Quentin Crisp and Alien - The RT Interview
15
  • Terry Gilliam Talks Doctor Parnassus
24
  • Wes Anderson Talks Fantastic Mr. Fox - RT Interview
9
 
 

Sponsored Links

Around The Network

  • The Swimmer at Rotten Tomatoes

Fresh Links

Featured
MSN's Year in Review
MSN's Year in Review External Link

Take a look at MSN's choices for the Top 10 films of 2009.

Moviefone's Year End Poll
Moviefone's Year End Poll External Link

What were your favorites? Least favorites? The funniest and scariest? Moviefone wants to know!

Tarantino's Characters
Tarantino's Characters External Link

Hollywood.com explores why QT's characters resonate so well with audiences.

Top 10 Movies of 2009
Top 10 Movies of 2009 External Link

TIME chimes in with their own list of the best films released this year.

Top 20 of the Decade
Top 20 of the Decade External Link

Click through to see which movies BuzzSugar placed in their Best-of-Decade list!

Promos
Follow RT on Twitter
Follow RT on Twitter External Link

Get the latest Tomatometer updates on upcoming movies!

 
 
About| Site Map| Help| RT To Go| Contact Us| Critics Submission| Linking to RT| Licensing| Movie List| Games| Celebs List| Newsletter
IGN Logo

IGN.com | GameSpy | Comrade | Arena | FilePlanet | GameSpy Technology
TeamXbox | Planets | Vaults | VE3D | CheatsCodesGuides | GameStats | GamerMetrics
AskMen.com | Rotten Tomatoes | Direct2Drive | Green Pixels


By continuing past this page, and by the continued use of this site, you agree to be bound by and abide by the User Agreement.
Copyright 1998-2009, IGN Entertainment, Inc. About IGN | Support | Advertise | Privacy Policy | User Agreement | Subscribe to RT's XML feed! IGN RSS Feeds
IGN's enterprise databases running Oracle, SQL and MySQL are professionally monitored and managed by Pythian Remote DBA
Certain product data ©1995-present Muze, Inc. For personal use only. All rights reserved.