NDSU Spectrum: Movie review

‘Swimfan’ is a waterlogged would-be thriller

By JOHN HANSEN

Sept. 13, 2002

“Swimfan” isn’t all wet, but it doesn’t exactly make a splash either. Let’s just say that director John Polson is still a little wet behind the ears.

That’s a lot of cliches for two sentences, but it’s nothing compared to the events of “Swimfan,” which can be figured out simply by hearing a synopsis: new girl Madison (Erika Christensen) is obsessed with handsome athlete Ben (Jesse Bradford). If she can’t have him no one can, least of all Ben’s girlfriend Amy (Shiri Appleby).

The only real innovation is that Ben is a swimmer rather than a football or basketball player.

But the predictability of “Swimfan” isn’t the problem. Last month’s “Blue Crush” was a no-brainer too, but it clicked thanks to the snappy, actor-friendly direction of John Stockwell. “Swimfan” doesn’t click, but a couple good things come out of it.

Of the three young actors, Appleby gives the best performance, reprising the naturalistic style she honed as Liz on three seasons of “Roswell.” Although she is again playing a small-town waitress, a viewer doesn’t think of Liz because the stylishly claustrophobic environment of “Swimfan” differs from the epic scope of “Roswell.” Appleby trades a sweeping character arc for a sketched personality, but amazingly, she comes off as being even more adorable on the big screen than she was on the small screen.

John Cusack look-alike Bradford is bland early on, but recovers later in the film when Ben starts to show some admirable qualities. Christensen is a hollow disappointment. There is no mystery or redeeming characteristics to Madison, even before she starts killing innocent people. Christensen phones in her performance as an icy villain, a far cry from a sympathetic murderer such as Christian Bale’s in “American Psycho.”

“Swimfan” — which also includes Clayne Crawford reprising his role from “Roswell” and Dan Hedaya playing, well, Dan Hedaya — is cast too precisely. It should have been shaken up with some against-type casting, maybe switching Appleby and Christensen’s roles. Then, we might have actually been challenged into exploring the reasons why a good person can go bad, rather than immediately knowing who to root for just by looking at the credits. “Swimfan” is waterlogged.

Title: “Swimfan”

Starring: Jesse Bradford, Erika Christensen, Shiri Appleby

Written by: Charles Bohl and Philip Schneider

Director: John Polson

Grade: C+