"Swimming with Sharks" Analysis

            “Swimming with Sharks” tells the story of Guy. Guy is an eager film producer’s assistant of one of the best in Hollywood, named Buddy Ackerman. Buddy is a conceited, offensive, and overall mean boss to be under. Although, Buddy is successful in his career, and feels Guy can to if Guy takes the ridicule Buddy gives. Regardless, Guy does not want to take the ridicule and wants to get to the top the fastest way possible. To add to all this, Dawn, a film producer starts dating Guy even after sleeping with Buddy countless times before. Guy has to decide how he can get up to the top, with Dawn or with Buddy.

            This film was film in the mid 1990s, and was set in the mid 1990s also. This film is a representation of the 1990s because of the hairstyles, and the technology. Dawn is a great representation because of her hairstyle. She had very short hair and bangs. It was very minimalistic and it embodies her personality. She does not really care about what people think, mainly because she was very promiscuous which helped with her career. The technology was a very big eye catcher. There were countless scenes of the characters using beepers, giant cell phones, desktop computers and no laptops, and pay phones. Cell phones were just starting to become popular at that time. So, the common technology was to use beepers, and if someone did not have a cell phone they would use pay phones. Things would be easier for Guy if he had a cell phone. He would not have to write everything down, and the phone numbers needed for Buddy, can be saved as contacts in his cell phone. This would cause less stress on Buddy, and for less shunning towards Guy from Buddy.

            This film has many recurring themes that can still be used today. The main theme of the film is figuring out what we really want, whether it be love, success, or greed etc. It is very American of us, to try to do what we set out to do, and want to do. Furthermore, this can resonate for any generation. Guy does not know exactly what he wants to be, until the end of the film. He is deciding if he wants to be with Dawn, and alter Buddy’s plans, or partner with Buddy. He eventually decides to partner with Buddy, but it came with a price, Dawn’s death. Especially today, we strive to be the best person we can be and be successful at it anyway we can, much like Guy. Another overall theme is social ranking. Throughout the film, it was obvious that Buddy was the boss, and controlled Guy’s every move. Every job has a high position and most of the time they are not the nicest. It is inevitable to have an overbearing boss, especially with a first job. This was Guy’s first job where it was in a field he wanted to work in. It is apparent today, especially in the television and film industry, a person has to start at the bottom to get to wherever they want to be, and Guy did it.

            This film was very well made, and could be remade today. Kevin Spacey should still be the Buddy Ackerman, because of his persona. His character was so well polished in this film; it can be done any other way. Frank Whaley can be replaced to a younger actor. Jonah Hill would be good for his role because he had a similar role in “Moneyball,” and he is a good enough actor to play comedic and dramatic roles. If it was to be remade it should be more modern with cell phones, and to have different scenarios with Buddy and Guy, to be more contemporary. For example, Guy has to help Buddy with his social media accounts to show that he is a nicer guy that he is portrayed as in real life. It was a very good film, and a remake can be made but the film was too good, and Kevin Spacey was too incredibly gripping to be replaced. It brought up many great films, of love, lust, greed, and survival of the fittest. It is a great example of film noir, and a great representation of the 1990s.