Swimming with Sharks (1995)

Swimming with Sharks Frank Whaley, Kevin Spacey (1995, Vidmark, R, priced for rental) Would-be power brokers will likely get more from this tape than the average renter. In theory, this is one of those Hollywood revenge stories that's as bracing as a power martini at the Four Seasons in Beverly Hills. Writer-director George Huang toiled as beleaguered assistant to a succession of gargoyle film executives before fashioning this tale of a beleaguered assistant (Whaley) who flips out and takes hostage his gargoyle film executive boss (The Usual Suspects' Spacey). But Whaley is too bland, his romance with a gorgeous producer (Michelle Forbes) is too unbelievable, and the twist at Sharks' tail is too farfetched. Spacey is a honey of a hard-ass, though, and it's a mark of this movie's mixed-up message that he's both truly hateable and more sympathetic than the hero. C