The Swimmer

“The Swimmer (1968) dir. Frank Perry & Sydney Pollack. Burt Lancaster swims through all of his neighbor's pools to get back home & crashes a big 60s blow out on his way, equipped with a three foot long caviar luge of course.”

“Woefully underrated movie starring the endlessly charismatic Burt Lancaster as Ned, a man who decides to swim home one summer day through all his neighbor's pools in the upper middle class suburbs of Connecticut. If you're slightly confused but intrigued, you'll love it. It's a perfect entry into the midcentury white suburban malaise sub-genre that I personally love, based on a very good short story by John Cheever that first appeared in the New Yorker in 1964.”

“This is one of the greatest movies ever made. Burt Lancaster peak performance and slept on in a very serious way. Incredible Cheever adaptation that is just as relevant now as it was at the time of its release.”

“Sprightly, tidy, and devastating in the same way that an episode of Mad Men ought to be and often is. Based on a short story by John Cheever. Joan Rivers cameo, too.”

“have not seen, but roger ebert gave 4/4 stars and seems pretty summery to me.”

“Ned’s decision to “swim home” by making a lap in every pool in the county turns into a hypnotic suburban odyssey and meditation on denial, aging, and self-delusion. Amazingly strange (and sometimes haunting) tone and atmosphere.”