PMA Films: “A Few Small Odysseys”: The Swimmer (1968)

Directed by Frank Perry. 94 minutes. Rated PG. In English.

Burt Lancaster stars as Ned Merrill, a man who confronts his destiny by swimming home, pool by pool, through the suburban nightmare of upper-class East Coast society. Based on the acclaimed short story by John Cheever, and directed by Frank Perry (Diary of a Mad Housewife, Mommie Dearest), The Swimmer is a film like no other, a feature-length Twilight Zone episode by way of The New Yorker.