She's bad -- a curly haired blond with a thing for athletes -- and it would take a guy dumber than a baseball bat not to see she's trouble. Well, the male lead in Fox's dumber-than-a-foul-pole "Swimfan" is obligingly slow on the uptake. Unfortunately, the project's filmmakers forgot to include anything even halfway scary as they poorly rejigger "Fatal Attraction" into a high school setting.
For years, early September has become a drop zone for duds like this, and Fox's accounting department won't strain itself counting the nickels and dimes it brings in. For the young actors hoping for a career boost, "Swimfan" has bad-movie cult potential, if it even gets that much attention.
What's truly unforgivable about director John Polson's film, his second feature after "Siam Sunset", is the outright ennui it induces for its first hour. We know the second we set eyes on her that new-girl-in-school Madison Bell (Erika Christensen) is bad news for substance abuser-turned-star swimmer Ben Cronin (Jesse Bradford).
Obviously, it's just a matter of time before he helps cause grief for his girlfriend and much worse for friends and cops.
What's a guy in Speedos supposed to do when vampish Madison strips to undies and gets in the pool with you? Easily cornered into doing stupid things and losing just about everything, including swim career, best friend, girlfriend and parental love, Ben finally gets the message when Madison -- who seems like she's zapped by little jolts of electricity when he tries to run her off -- gets him fired from his part-time job (distributing drugs to patients!) at a hospital.
It's too late, however, to stop the rampaging, cello-playing Madison, who has a former boyfriend on life support handily available as a mute character witness. Suddenly backed into a corner and accused of all the dastardly stuff she's been up to -- she even doctors and/or exchanges his urine sample to indicate he's taken steroids -- our hero comes up with a plan that seemingly puts an end to the fetching stalker and restores his rep. But movies like this never know when to quit.
Neither do Christensen (much better in "Traffic" and the upcoming "The Banger Sisters") and Bradford ("Clockstoppers") who become unintentionally comical once the proverbial gloves come off. Part of the problem is that both actors are so clean-cut, it's hard to believe they're born bellowers when they get riled.
Christensen particularly is left to drift with an underwritten, cliched character. The title refers to Madison's e-moniker, but the marketing promises a computer angle that never goes anywhere. OK, Madison spams him. So scary. She also makes nice and then swings away at Ben's chief rival on the swim team (Clayne Crawford). She tries to flatten with her SUV the lead's hapless sweetheart (Shiri Appleby). When that doesn't work, Madison visits the hospital, and so on.
Filmed in New Jersey and suburbs of New York City, "Swimfan" dog-paddles to the finish, while the borderline too-dark cinematography of Giles Nuttgens ("The Deep End") does a flip turn into the "bleach bypass" process. But the movie by then has become far funnier than any thriller can afford to be.
SWIMFAN
20th Century Fox
Greenestreet Films/Cobalt Media Group/Furthur Films production
Credits:
Director: John Polson
Screenwriters: Charles Bohl, Phillip Schneider
Producers: John Penotti, Allison Lyon Segan, Joe Caracciolo Jr
Executive producers: Fisher Stevens, Tim Williams
Director of photography: Giles Nuttgens
Production designer: Kalina Ivanov
Editor: Sarah Flack
Costume designer: Arjun Bhasin
Music: Louis Febre
Casting: Mandy Marin, Amanda Harding
Cast:
Ben: Jesse Bradford
Madison: Erika Christensen
Amy: Shiri Appleby
Carla: Kate Burton
Josh: Clayne Crawford
Randy: Jason Ritter
Rene: Kia Joy Goodwin
Running time -- 85 minutes
MPAA rating: PG-13...
For years, early September has become a drop zone for duds like this, and Fox's accounting department won't strain itself counting the nickels and dimes it brings in. For the young actors hoping for a career boost, "Swimfan" has bad-movie cult potential, if it even gets that much attention.
What's truly unforgivable about director John Polson's film, his second feature after "Siam Sunset", is the outright ennui it induces for its first hour. We know the second we set eyes on her that new-girl-in-school Madison Bell (Erika Christensen) is bad news for substance abuser-turned-star swimmer Ben Cronin (Jesse Bradford).
Obviously, it's just a matter of time before he helps cause grief for his girlfriend and much worse for friends and cops.
What's a guy in Speedos supposed to do when vampish Madison strips to undies and gets in the pool with you? Easily cornered into doing stupid things and losing just about everything, including swim career, best friend, girlfriend and parental love, Ben finally gets the message when Madison -- who seems like she's zapped by little jolts of electricity when he tries to run her off -- gets him fired from his part-time job (distributing drugs to patients!) at a hospital.
It's too late, however, to stop the rampaging, cello-playing Madison, who has a former boyfriend on life support handily available as a mute character witness. Suddenly backed into a corner and accused of all the dastardly stuff she's been up to -- she even doctors and/or exchanges his urine sample to indicate he's taken steroids -- our hero comes up with a plan that seemingly puts an end to the fetching stalker and restores his rep. But movies like this never know when to quit.
Neither do Christensen (much better in "Traffic" and the upcoming "The Banger Sisters") and Bradford ("Clockstoppers") who become unintentionally comical once the proverbial gloves come off. Part of the problem is that both actors are so clean-cut, it's hard to believe they're born bellowers when they get riled.
Christensen particularly is left to drift with an underwritten, cliched character. The title refers to Madison's e-moniker, but the marketing promises a computer angle that never goes anywhere. OK, Madison spams him. So scary. She also makes nice and then swings away at Ben's chief rival on the swim team (Clayne Crawford). She tries to flatten with her SUV the lead's hapless sweetheart (Shiri Appleby). When that doesn't work, Madison visits the hospital, and so on.
Filmed in New Jersey and suburbs of New York City, "Swimfan" dog-paddles to the finish, while the borderline too-dark cinematography of Giles Nuttgens ("The Deep End") does a flip turn into the "bleach bypass" process. But the movie by then has become far funnier than any thriller can afford to be.
SWIMFAN
20th Century Fox
Greenestreet Films/Cobalt Media Group/Furthur Films production
Credits:
Director: John Polson
Screenwriters: Charles Bohl, Phillip Schneider
Producers: John Penotti, Allison Lyon Segan, Joe Caracciolo Jr
Executive producers: Fisher Stevens, Tim Williams
Director of photography: Giles Nuttgens
Production designer: Kalina Ivanov
Editor: Sarah Flack
Costume designer: Arjun Bhasin
Music: Louis Febre
Casting: Mandy Marin, Amanda Harding
Cast:
Ben: Jesse Bradford
Madison: Erika Christensen
Amy: Shiri Appleby
Carla: Kate Burton
Josh: Clayne Crawford
Randy: Jason Ritter
Rene: Kia Joy Goodwin
Running time -- 85 minutes
MPAA rating: PG-13...
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.