The Swimmer

1968 · 95 MIN · IMDB 7.6 · 14,752 VOTES · DIR. Frank Perry, Sydney Pollack

The Swimmer poster

Overview

Well-off ad man Ned Merrill is visiting a friend when he notices the abundance of backyard pools that populate their upscale suburb. Ned suddenly decides that he'd like to travel the eight miles back to his own home by simply swimming across every pool in town. Soon, Ned's journey becomes harrowing; at each house, he is somehow confronted with a reminder of his romantic, domestic and economic failures.

Dialogue Timeline — 893 lines

A SAMPLE ACROSS THE RUNTIME — EVERY LINE IS SEARCHABLE

00:03:30 - Where've you been keeping yourself? - Here and there. Here and there.
00:05:58 All grown up. And beautiful, Stu. Just beautiful.
00:08:21 - Don, how about using your car? - Well, sure, but...
00:11:03 l'll call it the Lucinda River, after my wife.
00:13:54 l was jealous.
00:16:16 - How come you never put a pool in? - Never got around to it.
00:22:01 A babysitter! Ellen and Aggie would have a fit if they heard you.
00:25:00 And you never had a word to say.
00:28:03 The Bunkers must be having a party.
00:30:50 l wanted to tell you. That was a stinking thing to do.
00:36:39 ...one morning l was making coffee and looked out the window.
00:39:05 - Where did you meet this boy? - Through a computer.
00:42:07 How long you been driving for the Hallorans?
00:45:12 Overcrowding the public schools, indeed.
00:49:43 They emptied the pool because l'm not a good swimmer.
00:53:04 - What's the matter? - l thought you were gonna dive.
00:57:40 - That l've heard before. - Not from me.
01:02:31 Now, if you broke something, l could make you a beautiful splint.
01:05:35 l wasn't in Toronto last winter.
01:08:34 ...and that aging Vassar-girl wife of yours...
01:11:06 You're lying.
01:15:04 l'm swimming home.
01:21:07 Thanks a lot. Thanks an awful lot.
01:26:12 Our kids behave themselves, not run around drunk, wrecking cars.

Cast & Characters

Dialogue Record

Lines indexed893
Dialogue density9.4 lines / min
First line00:03:30
Final line01:26:12

Production Record

DirectorFrank Perry, Sydney Pollack
LanguageEnglish
IMDb votes14,752