Christian Slater

Here’s a sampling of what they had to say:

Sam Marlowe of The London Times: “The persistent vogue for theatre that plunders cinema for inspiration can seem small cause for celebration to those of us who would prefer to see the art form generating fresh stories. And Lesslie’s stage version of a movie about movies, peppered with updated pop culture references, offers scant justification for its existence. It’s dramatically uninteresting, and in Wilson Milam’s production oddly inert, lacking in tension or impetus and proceeding at a pretty pedestrian pace to a rather lame melodramatic climax and a predictably minor-key conclusion. It also has a nasty undertaste of sexism, less in Buddy’s misogynistic behaviour—which is itself a subject of the piece’s satire—than in its actual portrayal of women. Females here are either disposable bimbos pertly prepared to service the powerful, or beacons of integrity and morality. Slater plays Buddy with the bounce and tautness of an overstretched rubber band and a voice as metallic and biting as a mantrap. The performance will strike a chord with anyone who has ever suffered the humiliation and seething resentment of working for a sadistic boss. But while Slater is very watchable and has great timing, he’s neither the marrow-freezing monster nor the wily tactician that black comedy demands. And none of the cast is helped because while some of Lesslie’s dialogue is whip-smart, elsewhere the jokes often misfire… The play toys with notions of dumbing down and artistic responsibility, but never properly engages with them…The production has its moments of bitter mirth; but in the end, it feels pretty pointless.”

Michael Billington of The Guardian: “Satire on Hollywood has been a staple of drama since Kaufman and Hart's Once in a Lifetime. What makes this play unusual is that it is an inside job adapted by Michael Lesslie from George Huang's admired 1994 movie. It makes for a fast-moving evening. My only regret is that, having drawn blood in the first half, it literally spills it in the second… When it sticks to exposing the shabby politics of the movie business, the play hits the target… But, although we are begged not to reveal the ending, it's fair to say the play goes off the rails when it apes one of Buddy's own viciously exploitative movies… Even if the play itself is less subtle than Mamet's Speed-The-Plow, Wilson Milam's production is powered by a high-voltage performance from Christian Slater as the bullshitting Buddy… Matt Smith also skilfully shows Guy's transformation from innocent Candide to corrupted schemer, and Helen Baxendale almost makes one believe in Dawn's unbesmirched integrity. It's just a pity that, having started out as satire, the evening dwindles into sensationalism.”

Charles Spencer of The Daily Telegraph: “Swimming with Sharks is very much a play of two halves… The first half seems spookily similar to The Devil Wears Prada with the sex changed and the action shifted from the fashion industry to Hollywood… It is unfortunate for Swimming with Sharks that it has opened in the same week as Mamet’s Glengarry Glen Ross, a dramatist who makes demotic dialogue sing and sizzle and who has written much better about Hollywood than anything on offer here. Nevertheless, though often plodding, the piece just about holds the attention… The surprisingly diminutive Slater, whose career seems to be spent following in the footsteps of bigger talents (first Jack Nicholson in the stage version of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, and now Spacey) plays the vile Buddy with manifest relish and a small glimmer of charisma, but too often uses a bludgeon when a scalpel would be more effective. Matt Smith is endearingly gawky as his victimised assistant but is ultimately defeated by the play’s plot requirements, while Helen Baxendale supplies the disappointingly tepid love interest.”

Nicholas de Jongh of The Evening Standard: “Do you enjoy being shocked by barefaced immorality? Do you feel the urge to be exposed to visions of the twilight world of the Hollywood movie-making industry, where there always seems to be as much sex, lies and violence behind the cameras as in front of them? People able to give a big yes to both these questions will be pleasured by Swimming with Sharks… Those of us who have supped full to the point of indigestion on a diet of sensationalising films and plays that delve into Hollywood immoralities and emerge with a moral message will be fascinated by something else. The business of filmmaking in Los Angeles is presented as a cross between a poker and chess game… Slater, good at playing angelic-looking bad-boys or rebels, cannot discover Buddy's malignity. He does not peddle a convincing line in wickedness, looks too young and wholesome. Voice often maintained a few decibels below a monotonous yell of abuse, eyes rarely engaging with his victims, Slater permits Buddy no gradations in his bullying rudeness, no light and shade, none of the brooding quiet or sinister menace that ought to precede his eruptions. His Ackerman never made me shiver in revulsion.”

Julie Carpenter of The Daily Express: “Few evenings deliver such an exhilarating adrenalin rush as this unforgiving look at the Machiavellian machinations of Hollywood… The play perfectly suits the intimacy of the stage—especially as the tension escalates to its nail-biting conclusion… Hollywood star Christian Slater plays the tyrannical Buddy with supreme relish, glorying in his irrational expletive-ridden tantrums. Slater ahs already proved his theatrical credentials playing Randal McMurphy in two West End runs of One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest, and here he gets to unleash the full force of his maniacal magnetism. He is at his sadistic best, with egotism exuding from every pore… Slater invests him with such energy that he’s irresistible to watch.”

Quentin Letts of The Daily Mail: “Fleet Street reporters are often criticised for cynicism but we cannot match the soul-sapping selfishness of Hollywood as presented in Swimming with Sharks. What gives this new production on the Strand added saltiness is the fact that the lead role—that of a horrible Hollywood executive called Buddy (perfect name)—is played by Christian Slater. Gritty-voiced Mr. Slater is himself an occasional Hollywood star… Let’s hope that by taking this bitterly sardonic role Mr. Slater has not earned himself the lasting enmity of film producer contacts back home. He’s a taut, prowling stage presence. He has a bustle and energy, which make his moves electric to watch. I’m a bit worried about his brow, though. It barely seemed to budge lat night. There were no wrinkles to be seen. Little in the way of expressive movement crossed its broad terrain. Odd.”