4. "Swimming With Sharks"
(1994): A cult film to degraded personal assistants everywhere
(actually, it probably plays more like a documentary to some), the savage
Hollywood dissection "Swimming With Sharks" is a movie so painful (and painfully
funny) that it's almost unbearable
... more to watch. An inspired Spacey plays a
sadistic, egomaniacal vice president of production for a big studio who so
punishes his new personal assistant (played by Frank Whaley) that, enacting the dream of every poor
sycophant schlepping coffee to his ogre boss, the young man turns the tables on
him. But before that, it's Spacey attempting to teach his new charge about the
business the hard way, chucking the supposed tough love at him with lovely lines
such as, "You are nothing! If you were in my toilet, I wouldn't bother flushing
it. My bathmat means more to me than you!" Spacey is so good at this kind of
behavior, you're left almost speculating his own personal sanity. No wonder
serial killers are absolutely no stretch for the actor. (Everett
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