he really wants and then do anything to get it, echoing the numerous times Buddy told Guy. The movie ends with a beaten-up Buddy passing by Guy's office, making eye contact with him and silently gesturing to call him into his office for a meeting. Guy excuses himself and goes into Buddy's office, ignoring his ringing telephone. Buddy shuts his office doors as other employees walk by. Cast Kevin Spacey as Buddy Ackerman Frank Whaley as Guy Michelle Forbes as Dawn Lockard Benicio del Toro as Rex T.E. Russell as Foster Kane Roy Dotrice as Cyrus Miles Matthew Flynt as Manny Patrick Fischler as Moe Jerry Levine as Jack Production George Huang decided to write the script after having a conversation with Robert Rodriguez. Rodriguez was in Los Angeles after his film El Mariachi brought him to the attention of Sony Pictures, where he befriended Huang. Huang told Rodriguez of his frustrations with filmmaking when the director encouraged him to quit his post at Sony and pursue writing full-time so Huang could produce a script to direct himself. Huang's resultant script, "Reel Life", was picked up by Cineville executive Frank Evers, who brought in financing from independent investors, and significant production support from Sony Pictures Entertainment. The film was subsequently sold to Trimark Pictures (later assumed by Lionsgate in 2000). Cineville produced the film with Carl Colpaert, chairman of Cineville and Steve Alexander overseeing production. Although writer George Huang himself worked as an assistant for Barry Josephson, who was the Senior Vice President of Development at Sony Pictures at the time, some have suggested that Buddy's character was inspired by real life movie mogul Scott Rudin, while others suggest he is based on producer Joel Silver with Guy being based on Alan Schechter, Silver's assistant in the early 1990s. The director Buddy hires in the film, Foster Kane, is named after Orson Welles' character in the 1941 film Citizen Kane, Charles Foster Kane. Reception On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 76% based on reviews from 38 critics. The site's consensus states: "Swimming With Sharks is a smart, merciless Hollywood satire that's darkly hilarious and observant, thanks to Kevin Spacey's performance as ruthless studio mogul Buddy Ackerman." On Metacritic it has a score of a 66% based on reviews from 14 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Roger Ebert gave it three out of four stars. The film