SWIMMING WITH SHARKS (1994)

written and directed by George Huang

starring: Kevin Spacey, Frank Whaley, and Michelle Forbes

Originally titled and released outside of the United States as The Buddy Factor, this under-appreciated film stars Kevin Spacey (Glengarry Glen Ross, Henry & June, and The Ref) as Buddy Ackerman, a self-centered, self-absorbed, and self-serving Hollywood studio executive responsible for the top box office grossing action-adventure movies of the decade. 

Guy, played by Frank Whaley (Cafe Society, The Doors, and Hoffa), an affable young man from upstate New York, and a recent film school graduate and fledgling screenwriter, is the beleaguered assistant to the aforementioned Buddy Ackerman. 

One night, after a late dinner at a trendy Los Angeles restaurant with three of his co-workers, where he had entertained them with hilariously belittling stories about Buddy, including one about three-time Academy Award winner Shelly Winters being called into Buddy's office for an audition, Guy unexpectedly turns up at Buddy's house and begins an unrelenting reign of terror against his boss.  And when the torture escalates, as it always does, Guy even finds himself recreating scenes from Buddy's own blockbuster movies.

Through a series of flashbacks, we are a witness to what drove Guy over the precipice of sanity and into the abyss of madness.  Beginning with his first day on the lot of Keystone Pictures, Guy replaces Buddy's former assistant, Rex, played by Benecio del Toro (China Moon, Fearless, and The Funeral), who has moved over to Paramount Pictures as V.P. of Production, and experiences the first in a series of humiliating scenes over something as insignificant as a package of Sweet & Low.  This moment is preceded by one of Buddy's numerous speeches throughout the film that begins with the infamous words; "Shut up, listen and learn!"

Afterwards, Rex explains to Guy that all of the work that will be required of him has nothing to do with making movies - it is all about protecting Buddy's interests and serving his needs -- getting Buddy's coffee, getting Buddy's dry-cleaning, and getting Buddy laid.

Later in the week, Guy meets Dawn Lockhart, played by Michelle Forbes (Kalifornia), an independent producer based on the lot and one of Buddy's many former assistants, who has a pitch meeting with Buddy on a project that he summarily passes on as being to small and personal of a film.  Dawn is surprised and embarrassed to see Guy in his new position as Buddy's assistant, as they had an altercation earlier in the day regarding parking assignments.  Realizing that she needs Guy as an alley, rather than as an enemy, she invites him out for drinks after work.  And, as rarely happens in real life, but quite frequently in the movies, in an effort to propel the story forward, a passionate relationship ensues.

When Buddy learns that the head of the studio is looking for a new project that will appeal to a younger/hipper audience, and knowing of Guy's budding relationship with Dawn, he cajoles Guy into convincing her to bring her project (the one he had passed on) directly to him.  Guy, believing that this will ensure a promotion, as well as, make him Dawn's "hero", readily agrees.

Not long after Dawn finally acquiesces and the project is nearing production, Guy realizes that Buddy has been playing him for a sucker all along.  He has no intention of giving any credit to Guy for his efforts in bringing the project to the studio, nor for the work he did on the script to make the ending more upbeat.  In fact, Buddy's maltreatment of Guy only intensifies.  And to make matters worse for Guy, he and Dawn break up after her numerous failed attempts to convince him to stop being Buddy's whipping boy.

And now, all it takes is one phone call to set in motion the raging violence that befalls Buddy and forces Guy to decide what it is that he really wants.

This year-in-the-life of a low-level assistant in Hollywood is every Hollywood low-level assistant's ultimate fantasy.  And while Kevin Spacey and Frank Whaley deliver tour de force performances as the boss from hell and his dutiful lackey, it's Benecio del Toro's character that serves to remind us that in Hollywood, it is not hard work that is rewarded, but rather bad behavior.

Swimming With Sharks, along with Robert Altman's The Player, is chock full of insider material, revealing the, sometimes comical and oft-times Machiavellian, inner workings of the movie-making capital of the world.  And...would make for a perfect double-bill at your local art house.

[originally published in VMag - May 1998]