Ben Cronin (Jesse Bradford) has it all. He is the star swimmer of his school, a future scholarship at Stanford University is virtually guaranteed, and his perfect girlfriend Amy (Shiri Appleby) is willing to abandon all her own future plans just so that she can live in the same state as him. And, unusually for a Hollywood jock, Ben is one nice guy - just look at the way he feeds scraps to his dog, and doesn't join his friends when they bully the school geek. This kid doesn't even have pimples, for god's sake. Yet when new girl Madison Belle suggests Ben try a few strokes with her in the pool, he really ought to know better. She has a pornstar's name and a history of dating jocks - AND she's played by Erika Christensen, last seen as a smack-addicted good-girl-turned-bad in 'Traffic'. Anyone can see this girl is going to be trouble. Yet before he quite realises what has hit him, Ben finds himself struggling in the deep end as Madison becomes his number one fan (of the variety familiar from 'Misery').
'SwimFan', the film debut of director John Polson, really ought to be good. The acting is excellent, with all involved managing to forge the transition from teen drama to horror mode with credibility. The direction is taut, especially in the blue-tinged scenes in and around the pool. The problem is that there is so little in this film which has not already been seen in other female stalker melodramas, like 'Fatal Attraction', 'Poison Ivy', and 'Single White Female'. If you have not seen any of those, then this one is for you - but if you have, then 'SwimFan' is, for all its competence, strictly a thriller by numbers.
'SwimFan', the film debut of director John Polson, really ought to be good. The acting is excellent, with all involved managing to forge the transition from teen drama to horror mode with credibility. The direction is taut, especially in the blue-tinged scenes in and around the pool. The problem is that there is so little in this film which has not already been seen in other female stalker melodramas, like 'Fatal Attraction', 'Poison Ivy', and 'Single White Female'. If you have not seen any of those, then this one is for you - but if you have, then 'SwimFan' is, for all its competence, strictly a thriller by numbers.