PlatinumRead Just so...so bad

Steineded How sad is this?

Moustroll Good movie but grossly overrated

Tedfoldol everything you have heard about this movie is true.

dgcooper-72360 I wrote a review on this non-movie many years ago when IMDb was new but for some reason the review has been removed. A man sitting behind a desk in a garage talking about his bit part in another movie does not a movie make. I do not understand how this can be classified as a comedy / drama as it is neither. With the exception of some clips from The Killing Fields the entire movie consists of a humorless man babbling on and on about nothing. No entertainment value at all and very difficult to watch. My advise is that if you have the urge to watch this movie slam you hand in a car door instead, it will be less painful than watching this non- movie.

Lee Eisenberg Even if you've seen "The Killing Fields", it's still really good to see "Swimming to Cambodia", as famous monologist (and "Killing Fields" co-star) Spalding Gray explains what all led to the Cambodian genocide. And he manages to make it all humorous! How many people could actually manage to accomplish that?! Seeing how energetic Spalding Gray was when doing these things, it's all the more surprising that he committed suicide three years ago. But he did, and so this documentary is a relic of his unusual wit. And it's certainly one that I recommend. Jonathan Demme directed a really good one here.

smragan It doesn't get much lower-budget than this: A guy sitting at a desk on a stage with a notebook, a pointer, and a map of Cambodia on the wall behind him. And for an hour-and-a-half, he keeps you absolutely mesmerized, by doing little more than talking. The special lighting, cinematography, musical effects, and odd film inserts that Demme's production brings to Gray's monologue (which, like so many of the films I truly love, was performed on a stage before it was brought to the screen) work ever-so-slightly to enhance the performance at certain points, but by and large this is just Spalding Gray, a wonderful story-teller, doing his thing. In terms of bang for your production buck, Swimming to Cambodia has to be right up there with The Blair Witch Project. A great film.

Junkill "Swimming to Cambodia" is an amazing piece of work. One of Spalding Gray's monologue pieces, it features him taking a story that seems like it should have been only mildly interesting and turning it into poetry. Directed by the incomparable Johnathan Demme and featuring music by the brilliant and eccentric Laurie Anderson, Gray recounts his experiences in the filming of "The Killing Fields." Gray's words tell of bizarre, disturbing, exciting and moving experiences in exotic locales. His words move from beautiful to disgusting, hopeful to horrifying, and always with a masterful lyricism that places him as one of the absolute masters of the English language! The book (published 1985) is supposed to be a great read, but the film of Gray himself telling the stories is an experience beyond compare. Spalding Gray's genius will be greatly missed.