Amber Leighton is a wealthy, spoiled socialite wife of a millionaire who joins two other couples on a private cruise from Italy to Greece. Amber develops an instant and intense dislike to Giuseppe, a deckhand, and insults him mercilessly throughout the trip. During the trip, she insists on being taken out on a dinghy for a lark, overruling Giuseppe's warnings about an oncoming storm. During their dinghy trip, Amber berates Giuseppe incessantly, which only intensifies once they run out of gas. Through a series of mishaps, Amber damages the dinghy and they end up washing ashore on a deserted island. On the island, Giuseppe gains the upper hand in their interactions due to his survival skills. As the roles reverse, Giuseppe becomes more dominant in his treatment of Amber, while she concurrently becomes more submissive and cowering. Their relationship evolves into intimacy. Eventually, the two are rescued, and return to their normal lives. Giuseppe attempts to reach out to Amber, to rekindle their relationship, but his messages receive no reply. Giuseppe believes that Amber has rejected him, and is despondent. However, it is revealed at the end that his letters have been intercepted by Amber's wealthy husband, who ensures that Amber never sees them or Giuseppe again.
The film's working title was Love, Sex, Drugs and Money and was filmed in Sardinia and Malta from 1 October 2001 until 9 November 2001 with security increased due to the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Madonna had only finished her 2001 Drowned World Tour two weeks prior to filming. Giancarlo Giannini's son Adriano Giannini plays his original film role.
Release
Critical reception
The film received extremely negative reviews from critics. Rotten Tomatoes currently holds a 5% rating, based on 79 reviews, with an average rating of 2.8/10. The site's consensus states: "Muddled and lacking the political context of the original, Swept Away offers further proof that Madonna can't act." Metacritic reports an 18 out of 100 rating, based on 27 critics, indicating "overwhelming dislike". Roger Ebert, of the Chicago Sun-Times, who called the original Swept Away such an "absorbing movie" that he bestowed with a 4-out-of-4 star rating, gave the remake only 1 star. According to Ebert, despite Ritchie's relatively faithful adaptation, the original Swept Away was "incomparably superior," and the remake's fatal flaw was the "utterly missing" vitality or emotional resonance of the main characters. Additionally, wrote Ebert, Madonna's character "starts out so hateful that she can never really turn it around" and gain any redemption or believable change. Similarly, A.O. Scott of The New York Times wrote, "In her concerts, music videos and recordings, Madonna has often been a mesmerizing performer, but she is still not much of an actress. Striking a pose is not the same as embodying a person, and a role like this one requires the surrender of emotional control, something Madonna seems constitutionally unable to achieve." In his otherwise negative review of the film, Slant Magazine critic Ed Gonzalez said: "Madonna gives her best performance since Abel Ferrara had her beaten to a pulp in his Dangerous Game." "The way critics take it out on me now is to have a go at anything me and Guy do together," Madonna remarked about the negative critical reaction. "Everyone in England has slagged it off without having seen it. Isn't that beautiful? Don't you think that's absurd? But I think the knives were going to come out for Guy anyway, even if he hadn't ended up with me. He had too much success with his firsttwo films. That's how the media is: eventually they have to pull you down."
Box office
Swept Away was a box office bomb; from a $10 million budget, it grossed $598,645 in the United States and around $437,875 from foreign territories for a worldwide total of $1,036,520. It was shown only on 196 screens for two weeks, dropping down to 59 in the final third week of release. In Italy, it grossed €71,575 and in Spain €105,371 from 174 screens.
The film also received nominations for Worst Director, Most Intrusive Musical Score, and Worst Remake.
Soundtrack
The score was composed by Michel Colombier, and it is mostly his work that is featured on the 12-track soundtrack album. The soundtrack also contain several songs by other artists. "Come-On-a-My-House", sung by Della Reese, is the only one featured on the album. Songs not featured on the album include "Lovely Head" by Goldfrapp, "Ain't Nobody Here but Us Chickens" by Louis Jordan, and "Fade into You" by Mazzy Star. Arvo Pärt's "Spiegel im Spiegel" plays during the closing moments and end credits of the film.
Home media
In the United Kingdom, the film was released direct-to-video by Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment. The DVD special features include a filmmakers' commentary with Ritchie and Vaughn, an interview with Ritchie and Madonna, sixteen deleted scenes, Movie Special, theatrical trailers, and filmographies. In 2019 Swept Away was reissued on DVD and released on Blu-Ray by Fabulous Films, under license from Sony Pictures.
