John Polson's I WAS A TEENAGE FATAL ATTRACTOR goes by the prosaic title of
SWIMFAN, the instant message id of the movie's psycho. Going into it, I was
hoping that it would be sleazy and fun, but it was neither. Although he has a
decent cast to work with, Polson is never able to make the story believable.
When we meet Ben Cronin (Jesse Bradford, CLOCKSTOPPERS) on the first day of his
senior year in high school, he is told by his swim coach (Dan Hedaya) that he
has to practice for the next eight days solid since the Stanford recruiters are
coming early this year. The story quickly loses credibility when you realize
that this jock with a scholarship on the line spends precious little time
getting ready for his big tryout.
Ben, who is deeply in love with Amy Miller (Shiri Appleby), is easily seduced by
Madison Bell (Erika Christensen, TRAFFIC), a new student in town. Madison is a
nut case who refuses to leave Ben alone. She is like a nightmare that won't
end. Actually, her real agenda is never convincing or clear. What we do know
is that she dresses well and wears a lot of lip gloss and that she is bad since
she fills up Ben's Email inbox with PG-13 rated porn pictures of herself. On
the other hand, we know that Ben is a good kid who doesn't deserve to be
harassed by her. How do we know this? Why, he is such a caring person that he
goes out of his way to bring girlie playing cards to an old geezer in the
hospital where he works as an orderly.
The completely predictable plot includes such clichés as Madison leaving her
panties in Ben's car so that Amy will see them. It also features the old trick
of the ending which really isn't. About all I can say for the picture is that
it is occasionally fun to laugh at. But it takes itself quite seriously and is
no parody. You'll probably feel like you were in Bradford's last movie as the
clock does seem to stop while you are watching SWIMFAN. Your watch may indicate
that the movie was less than an hour and a half, but don't believe it. It sure
feels longer.
SWIMFAN runs 1:25. It is rated PG-13 for "mature thematic elements, sexual
content, disturbing images and language" and would be acceptable for
teenagers.
Copyright © 2002 Steve Rhodes