66
Metascore
14 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 83Entertainment WeeklyOwen GleibermanEntertainment WeeklyOwen GleibermanSwimming With Sharks swipes its basic design from Robert Altman’s The Player: It’s yet another black satirical morality play about a yuppie climber who learns to be a killer. But since Guy, for all his ass-kissing resentment, isn’t really filled in as a character, our attention — and, in a curious way, our sympathy — shifts to the monster himself. When Spacey goes ballistic, only to freeze the nitroglycerine in his veins a moment later, you don’t want to look anywhere else.
- 80EmpireCaroline WestbrookEmpireCaroline WestbrookThis is a bold, enormously enjoyable effort, by turns both hilarious and disturbing.
- 80Los Angeles TimesPeter RainerLos Angeles TimesPeter RainerSwimming With Sharks, the latest Tinseltown dig at Tinseltown, is being advertised as a jokey spoof, but it's something quite different: a dark slice of retribution that recalls Stephen King in his Misery mode.
- 80The New York TimesJanet MaslinThe New York TimesJanet MaslinIn his six years working for various movie executives, Mr. Huang filed away trenchant observations about great big egos and helpless little assistants. Now he gleefully brings those observations to the screen. His witty, score-settling Swimming With Sharks is the perfect revenge for anyone who has ever been showered with paper clips, compared unfavorably with a bath mat or ordered to place an urgent phone call to somebody who's out white-water rafting with Tom Cruise -- right now! No excuses!
- 75Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertChicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertSwimming With Sharks was written and directed by George Huang, who was himself a personal assistant in Hollywood, and whose networking must have paid off, since he got a movie out of it. His plot may be overwritten and the ending may be less than satisfying, but his eye and ear are right.
- 75Washington PostHal HinsonWashington PostHal HinsonOnly a fool -- or someone who's never had a boss -- could completely dislike George Huang's Swimming With Sharks. A revenge comedy in which a much-wronged employee ties up his insensitive, abusive boss and gets a little payback -- puny offense by puny offense -- the film is like Death and the Maiden for disgruntled employees. [12 May 1990, p.B07]
- 75Chicago TribuneJohn PetrakisChicago TribuneJohn PetrakisThere is much that is hilarious about this bleak house of horrors, based on the real-life traumas of writer-director George Huang. Most of the humor surfaces early--including a clever opening restaurant scene--as Buddy (Kevin Spacey, in a terrific performance) gives his new assistant, Guy (Frank Whaley), a harsh lesson in subjugation. [12 May 1995, p.H]
- 70Within its very limited range, pic has verve, a fine control of tone and a stylish look given its low budget and three-week sked. Spacey dominates, but Whaley makes a convincing transition from goody-goody to icy insider, and Forbes manages well despite being forced to flip-flop on command between sarcastic bitchiness and softer intimacy.
- 50San Francisco ChroniclePeter StackSan Francisco ChroniclePeter StackSwimming With Sharks, despite its attempt to be wicked and hiply fun, is ultimately just tiring as it pits people against one another.
- 40TV Guide MagazineTV Guide MagazineFor everyone who's just dying to know (and can't guess) what it's like to work for Joel Silver, Hollywood mega-producer and notorious egomaniac, Silver's former assistant George Huang has fashioned this mean-spirited revenge comedy. Kevin Spacey is awe-inspiring as the Silver-esque Buddy Ackerman; Frank Whaley is his wimpy whipping boy.