Review of Swimfan (2002) by Timothy S — 27 Jul 2011

"Swimfan" is an over-heated, brain-dead teen variation of "Fatal Attraction" that borrows shamelessly from the Adrian Lyne classic while removing all of the qualities that made that film so great. The cast is all attractive enough, but they don't have a personality to share between them. Jesse Bradford is likeable enough in the lead, but he's so bland is nearly impossible to feel anything for his plight. And Ericka Christiansen is an actor I really want to like, but this silly, underwritten role isn't going to do much for her career. She's a beautiful woman, and she proved in the far superior "Traffic" that she can act. But her bid for box office glory here is extremely underwhelming.

The movie even fails on the basic "so bad it's good" level. Christiansen is obviously game, but everyone else lets her down. Debut director John Polson's first effort is sluggish and amateurish, but worse is the ridiculous screenplay with some of the lamest dialogue of the year. And the entire rest of the cast is totally transparent and forgettable.

Some scenes are almost remade from the Michael Douglas flick, such as the scene where Christiansen pays an unexpected visit to Bradford's home. It's not really flattering. It's more embarrassing. The whole thing is so derivative that it's hard to be surprised. It does manage to avoid most of the standard serial killer cliches, but that's pretty faint praise when the rest of this is so lackluster. Teen melodrama really comes to a head in "Swimfan", which feels more like a show on the C.W. than a feature film. It's pretty to look at but emotionally vacant.