Swimming with Sharks (also known as The Boss and Buddy Factor) is a 1994 American black comedy/thriller drama film written and directed by George Huang and starring Kevin Spacey, Frank Whaley and Michelle Forbes. Plot Buddy Ackerman (Spacey), an influential movie mogul, hires Guy (Whaley), a naïve young writer, as his assistant. Guy, who has just graduated from film school, believes that his new job is a golden opportunity. Despite warnings from Rex (del Toro), the outgoing assistant who has become hardened under Buddy's reign, Guy remains optimistic. Buddy turns out to be the boss from hell; he treats Guy like a slave, subjects him to sadistic (and public) verbal abuse, and has him bending over backward to do meaningless errands that go beyond just his work life. Guy is humiliated and forced to bear the brunt of his insults. His only solace is his new girlfriend Dawn (Forbes), a producer at Buddy's firm. When Buddy apparently fires Guy in a phone call, Guy finally snaps and takes Buddy hostage in order to exact revenge. He ties Buddy up and subjects him to severe beatings, torture and mind games. It is later revealed that due to a botched call waiting function on Buddy's home phone, Guy heard Buddy and Dawn arranging a rendezvous at Buddy's house. Once in Guy's power, Buddy reveals for the first time a human, vulnerable side. He tells Guy that his wife had been raped and murdered on Christmas Eve twelve years prior, and reveals that he, too, was once a bullied assistant to powerful, tyrannical men and spent a decade putting up with such abuse to become successful himself. He also reveals that abusing Guy was his way of teaching Guy that he must earn his success. Dawn arrives at the scene to find Guy aiming a gun at Buddy's face and insists that she had only agreed to see Buddy as a way of helping Guy's career. Dawn pleads with Guy to put down the gun, whereupon Buddy tells Guy that he has to pull the trigger in order to get ahead in the business. After a moment's indecision, Buddy screams at Guy to shoot, which Guy does. The climax of the film reveals that Guy killed Dawn (who is blamed for kidnapping and torturing Buddy) and was subsequently promoted. In the final scene, Guy coldly tells a former colleague to find out what