By Ray Walton

The Swimmer (1968) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐.5

A man spends a summer day swimming home via all the pools in his quiet suburban neighborhood.

Starring: Burt Lancaster, Janet Landgard and Janice Rule

I had a hysterectomy in 2023 and watched this a few days before the one year anniversary of it. I’m sharing this because Burt Lancaster’s movies were a huge coping mechanism for me with the stress of impending surgery, plus finishing college. I considered watching this multiple times during the coming months, including the night before the procedure, and I am really glad I didn’t. It is a fantastic movie, I knew that it was downbeat going in, but I wasn’t expecting something that gutting, no pun intended. It’s not the kind of movie to watch right before having an internal organ removed. It is not the kind of movie you would expect to see in the late 60s, and I can understand why this wasn’t a success at the box office. It is a fantastic character piece and one of Lancaster’s best performances along with Elmer Gantry and The Sweet Smell of Success. I don’t want to talk about the plot very much, as it is one of those movies where you should go in as blind as possible, but you would need to be in the appropriate mindset to watch it. An unconventional look at a man’s life story.

Ray Walton

Neurodivergent movie lover. Here to share reviews for horror and non horror movies that fall into the “Dark Cinema” category.