The Swimmer

On a radiant summer day, Ned Merrill—a man of about fifty—appears in his neighbors' garden and plunges into their pool. They are all the more bewildered when he announces his plan to swim his way home, pool by pool... Admittedly, the basic premise doesn't exactly knock you off your feet—yet what Frank Perry (who was replaced by Sydney Pollack during filming) conjures from it is remarkable: over the course of the story, "The Swimmer" increasingly reveals itself to be the American suburban nightmare brought to life. On his odyssey, Ned is forced to confront his past and, ultimately, his failure—both in society and within himself: heavy rain clouds are gathering on the horizon...
(Florian Widegger)