Not that "Swimfan" is a terrible movie. On the contrary, the movie is highly watchable, creepy when warranted, and boasts good performances from Erika Christensen and, of course, Bradford.
When the film opens, Ben Cronin (Bradford) has the perfect life. A high school senior and his school's undefeated swimming champion, he has an unblemished relationship with his girlfriend Amy (Shiri Appelby, who brings little more to her role than good hair), a supportive mother and a promising future. He also finds time to volunteer at a hospital and be an all around good guy.
Into this slice of wonderful enters Madison Bell (Christensen), a new student who has just arrived from New York. Though the film takes care to establish how much he loves Amy, Ben is instantly attracted to the mysterious Madison. Unfortunately, we receive our first glimpse into Madison's criminal insanity when Ben stops by her house and she coldly reprimands her mentally handicapped cousin Dante. As Ben and Madison talk, the camera focuses on Christensen's chilling facial expressions. To her credit, she really makes us loathe Madison even though she does not elicit sympathy for her character, which might have added some depth to her performance and the movie.
Later that night, the two end up in the school's swimming pool and one thing leads to another after Ben offers up some unconvincing resistance. It seems that the indiscretion will amount to nothing more than that when Madison assures Ben that she will not tell anyone.
However, after Ben once again assures Madison that they will not be together the next evening, things start to get messy. Madison comes up with a stunning array of harassment devices, but when she tampers with the medication of a patient in the hospital where Ben works, causing the patient to have a stroke and Ben to lose his job, Ben gets angry and threatens her violently. I must admit that the scene during which he confronts her is well done. Both actors are more than up to the task, Bradford visibly seething with anger and Christensen both hurt and pleased with his intense reaction.
Christensen's bad deeds only become more and more malicious, ending Ben's relationship with Amy and getting him thrown off the swim team. Suffice it to say, Ben finds a way to get his life back but not before every major character has been gravely injured or killed. I won't ruin it for you.
We have all seen this movie before, it was called "Fatal Attraction." As others did with "O," "Cruel Intentions" and "Whatever It Takes," "Swimfan's" creators have taken a storyline and recreated it for the high school set. Though the teen versions are often dumbed down, they are usually a lot of fun. For instance, one of the most contrived (and therefore, most enjoyable) scenes in Swimfan has Bradford breaking into Christensen's room to find every possible piece of incriminating evidence lying in plain sight. The filmmakers are also not afraid to make ridiculous use of foreshadowing and irony. When Ben and Madison first meet, she gives him her hairpin so he can jimmy her broken locker and she tells him to keep it. During the movie's final scene, he uses the pin to free a handcuffed Amy.
The real reason, however, that the plot of "Fatal Attraction" could be recycled is that the idea of an indiscretion that ends up ruining the lives of all those involved is both disturbing and oddly fascinating. As Tom Hanks pointed out in "Sleepless in Seattle," "Fatal Attraction" "scared the hell out of every man in America." The movie serves as the ultimate caveat not only to those who consider being unfaithful but also to anyone who enters into a relationship.