Film Reviews

Swimfan

• Rating:
• Director: John Polson
• Starring: Clayne Crawford
• Details: US / 86 mins / (15PG).

For those who don't have much patience in reading lengthy reviews, and just want a quick evaluation of a movie to confirm whether you should hand over your hard earned, I'll make this very easy for you - Swimfan is a terrible, terrible movie. It's so terrible in fact, that it almost becomes quite a comedy. Well, almost. Best described (read charitably) as a teenage version of Fatal Attraction, Jesse Bradfield plays Ben Cronin, a high school senior with a promising swimming career. With the perfect girlfriend, Amy (Appleby) and the opportunity of a scholarship to Stanford, everything seems to be going his way. Enter the saucy psychotic Southern Belle, Madison (Christensen), who takes quite a shine to the swimmer. One quick shag in the pool later and Madison is completely obsessed with Ben. When Ben finally tells her that their tryst meant nothing, Madison flips out - big style.
Bereft of anything that could be mistaken for originality, Swimfan is a film which depends greatly on the conventions of the sexual thriller genre. The script lacks any urgency, sense of scope or dimension, while the acting - with the exception of Christensen - can mercifully be described as limited. Shallower than a toddler's paddling pool.

Review by Garreth Murphy