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THE BUDDY FACTOR (aka SWIMMING WITH SHARKS)
1/2
Rebecca Wan
Written and directed by: George Huang
Produced by: Cineville/ Keystone/ Mama'Z Boy Entertainment/ NeoFight Film / Trimark Pictures (distributor)
Cast: Kevin Spacey (Buddy Ackerman), Frank Whaley (Guy), Michelle Forbes (Dawn Lockard)
Theatres :
Runtime: 101 minutes.
Rating : **1/2 out of *****In SWIMMING WITH SHARKS, Frank Whaley is Guy, an ambitious but essentially nice person who gets a break in the movie business when he lands a place as assistant to the very successful producer Buddy Ackerman. The catch: Buddy is well known for being an in credible sonofabitch and a chronic abuser of all his previous assistants, and he wastes no time in breaking Guy in immediately.
Buddy assualts the bright-eyed Guy with a continuous stream of verbal (and emotional) cruelty, physical tantrums and vicious backstabbing that eventually has Guy spoiling for some sort of payback. And that's probably what director Huang wants to position as the crux of his film: the ultimate lackey's revenge on his maniacally demanding, torturous superior. In a NINE TO FIVE-ish (but far less cheerful), "one day I'd like to do *this* to my boss" kind of way, the grandaddy of all evil, self-absorbed bosses, Buddy Ackerman, gets his comeuppance.
It's a story that almost works, for a number of reasons. The biggest one is that playing the psychopathic Asshole Boss of the Decade is the always magnificently deranged Kevin Spacey, who takes on his role as the power-abusing employer with deliciously de liberate menace. "Repeat after me: You-are-nothing," Spacey drones at Whaley with a intense, claustrophobic insistence that sends chills up the spine. Somewhat less striking (and perhaps on purpose) is the insipidly nice Guy, who nervously stumbles around Ackerman at first, but soon develops into a hardened, disillusioned industry "player" who still will do anything to get to the top.
Despite Spacey, and the dark and surreal, conspiratorial theme of an underling getting the better of his, well, upperling, through excessive but deservedly harmful means, there is a surprising blandness to the story, which unfolds through a series of flas hbacks. Guys' metamorphosis from being a considerate person to an angry, bitter assistant isn't really all that convincing, and the climax, which shudders with what I suppose should be a withering cynicism is a point better made than felt.
The Flying Inkpot Rating System:
* Wait for the TV2 broadcast.
** A little creaky, but still better than staying at home with Gotcha!
*** Pretty good, bring a friend.
**** Amazing, potent stuff.
***** Perfection. See it twice.
Other film reviews by this writer can be obtained from the InkVault by doing a key word search with this writer's name.Other film reviews by other writers can also be obtained from the InkVault through key word searches.
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