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Swimfan [2002]


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Editorial
Amazon.co.uk Review

A distinctly mediocre high-school thriller, Swimfan is worryingly predictable not only in its general direction, but also in its details. The moment that high school swimmer Ben (Jesse Bradford) tells Madison, a wild-eyed upper-class blonde with whom he has had a one-night stand in the pool, that she misunderstands their relationship, you start looking at the things he values and guessing the order in which she will break them. There is the sweet old man he helps as a hospital volunteer; there is the best friend and rival; there is the sickeningly sweet girlfriend--and sure enough each of them in turn finds themselves in jeopardy. And you just know it was a mistake for him to tell Madison about his druggy past and show her how to jimmy her way into lockers.

This is essentially a remake of Fatal Attraction, but one lacking the edge of madness that Glenn Close brought to her woman spurned. It combines by-the-numbers plot cues with some staggering implausibilities: at one point Ben is seriously suspected of a crime when he has nuns as witnesses to his presence in another state. Ill-thought-out in most ways, Swimfan's principal merit is Erika Christensen's loopy performance as Madison.

On the DVD: Swimfan is presented in a widescreen visual aspect ratio of 1-85:1; but the Dolby Digital 5.1 sound sometimes has an imperfect balance between the crashing indie-rock score and the dialogue. The special features include deleted and extended scenes with or without commentary by director John Polson, an overly self-congratulatory commentary on the whole film by Polson and stars Bradford and Christensen, a mildly interesting featurette and the usual trailers and spots. --Roz Kaveney


Let them drown, those who don't know how to swim
Review date: 2007-04-08 Rating: 6 out of 10

A rather poor story. Two nice young people love each other. The boy is in the swimming team and the girl is happily going along in her life of work and school. Then a vulture arrives. She is blonde, she is cannibalistic, she is ready to kill to possess what she wants and she does not take no as an answer to her orders. Then the boy says yes under pressure and she will not accept his no later on and will kill everything she can lay her hands on : friends, girl friend, mother, and the list could go on forever. The boy, with the help of a couple of people, bait that vulture with the coat of one she had tried to kill, and she is tricked into revealing her real identity, and even so she is not finished and she takes advantage of an amateurish cop to commit a couple more crime. What do we get out of this melodramatic horror? A complete feeling of emptiness that gives you a taste of ashes in your mouth, the ashes of something that is dead somewhere. Crime is never mechanical. To kill someone requires some imagination. In this case it is nothing but a bad habit that no one can cut out of her.

Dr Jacques COULARDEAU, University Paris Dauphine & University Paris 1 Pantheon Sorbonne


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Reviews


Oh. My. God.
Review date: 2006-07-31 Rating: 4 out of 10

If you are about 14, easily pleased and have never, ever seen a horror film; you might just find this watchable. For anyone else this really is inexcusable stuff. A stupid, ridiculous storyline, with Beverly Hills 90210 acting all wrapped up in a predictable, annoying, yawn inducing 90 minutes. Like, whatever.

Steady paced, bit predictable but good.
Review date: 2006-03-13 Rating: 8 out of 10

This steady paced high-school thriller, strikes all the right chords to keep you glued to the screen. It is slightly predictable, but you don't really notice that until after you seen it. If your looking for a good high-school thriller you wont be dissapointed.

Loved it
Review date: 2004-10-17 Rating: 10 out of 10

This film isn't your normal boring high school flick, it something complete different. It's all about messing with your mind.
You have the couple Ben Cronin (Jesse Bradford - Bring It On), reborn through swimming from a thief to a respectable guy and Amy Miller (Shiri Appleby - TV's Roswell), the good student, both have promising careers. Then comes along Maidson Bell (Erika Christensen - Traffic) who wants Ben, she becomes so involved in his life, being bestfriends with Amy, dating the bestfriend Josh and meeting the mother, that he tells her to leave him alone. Which was a big mistake because she's slgithly insane.

The actors performances were brillant and they took the characters further than most actors could, especially Erika, Jesse and Shiri. The direction of the film was good, and gets your mind thinking by the end of it.

worth a watch, don't get over excited though
Review date: 2004-03-13 Rating: 8 out of 10

I saw this first in the cinema, but had forgotten the majority of the plot by the time I got round to seeing it again. It is a very well done film, sinister and yet also entirely possible. The acting is high class, and the plot is easy to grasp yet effective. An enjoyable fim - well worth seeing. If you don't buy it, rent it out one evening; this is chillingly realistic. However, it is not a film you can watch countless times, you can only really watch it at intervals as otherwise it becomes too predictable.

Product Details/Specifications


Actor(s):
Jesse Bradford
Kate Burton
Shiri Appleby
Erika Christensen
Clayne Crawford

Creators:
Jesse Bradford (Primary Contributor)
Erika Christensen (Primary Contributor)
Allison Lyon Segan (Producer)
Bradley Yonover (Producer)
Courtney Potts (Producer)
Fisher Stevens (Producer)
Jamie Gordon (Producer)
Charles F. Bohl (Writer)
Phillip Schneider (Writer)

Director(s):

Recording label: Icon Home Entertainment
Manufacturer: Icon Home Entertainment
EAN: 7321900946346
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 1
Format: PAL, Widescreen,
Release date: 2003-04-07
Number of discs: 1
Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
Audience rating: Suitable for 12 years and over
Region code: 2
Running time: 81 minutes
Theatrical release date: 2002-09-06
Language: English (Original Language)
Language: English (Subtitles For The Hearing Impaired)
Language: English (Subtitled)

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