The Swimmer

Director: Frank Perry

1968 / 95min / DCP

When first introduced on his curious mission to “swim” his way back home by hopscotching through the pools in a Connecticut WASP enclave, Burt Lancaster’s Ned Merrill is the picture of rude health—but as Eleanor and Frank Perry’s adaptation of the 1964 John Cheever story of the same name proceeds, his vitality begins to drain, the veneer on his clenched smile dulls, and something desperate and gnawing is revealed behind Neddy’s bluff and bravado. A piercing character study, peerlessly performed by Lancaster, and a steadily darkening portrait of American dreams deferred.