Swimfan
(2002)
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This teen psychodrama directed by John Polson plays like a Generation Y version of FATAL ATTRACTION. Ben Cronin (Jesse Bradford) is a high school swimmer with an incredibly promising future. On the verge of securing a scholarship to Stanford, and in love with the too-good-to-be-true Amy (Shiri Appleby), Ben seems to have it all. But the arrival of a new student threatens to ruin everything Ben has worked so hard to attain. Temptation arrives in the form of Madison Bell (Erika Christensen), a beautiful, sultry cellist whose overt sexuality is too much for Ben too handle. In a fit of passion, he succumbs to her advances but is immediately wracked with guilt. Trying to eradicate his mistake before it can escalate any further, Ben confronts Madison. To his dismay, he discovers that she has formed an abnormally strong attachment to him. Soon, Ben has been accused of taking steroids, fired from his hospital job, and targeted by the police for trying to kill Amy. With the help of friends, Ben must find a way to expose Madison and stop her reign of terror. Polson's entertaining film is fueled by an amped-up hard rock soundtrack and Louis Febre's moody score. |
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While the over-20s may have seen it all before, this Fatal Attraction for teenagers will have its target audience on the edge of their seats. A tautly paced and sharply executed thriller, it reworks the familiar psychotic cycle of female obsession and revenge played out in such films as Dearly Devoted and The Crush. It's a cautionary tale, apparently unaware of its own clichés, as new girl-in-town Madison Bell (a nail-bitingly vile Erika Christensen) unleashes her fury on handsome high-school swimming champ Ben Cronin (Jesse Bradford) when she realises her affection for him is unrequited. Despite the obvious plot, what viewers won't anticipate is just how nasty Madison gets — Glenn Close's Alex was a mere pussycat compared to this nightmare incarnate. The conclusion, too, is as dark as they come, adding a final twist to an intelligent and non-patronising chiller that treats adolescents like emotionally aware young adults rather than game-fixated children.