‘Swimfan’ a pale imitation of thriller ‘Fatal Attraction’

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In theaters

SWIMFAN, directed by John Polson, written by Charles Bohl and Phillip Schneider, 85 minutes, rated PG-13.

John Polson’s new teen thriller, “Swimfan,” owes its soul to Adrian Lyne’s “Fatal Attraction,” the rip-roaring, 1987 thriller that had yuppies everywhere fretting about the potentially ugly ramifications of infidelity when Glenn Close’s Alex Forrest seduced Michael Douglas’ very-married Dan Gallagher – and then boiled his little girl’s rabbit in a psychotic fit of unrequited love.

The film became an event movie of the first order and launched a national dialogue, but here’s a surprise – “Swimfan” won’t enjoy the same celebrity. It’s never as provocative or, for that matter, as PETA-unfriendly, and it doesn’t come backed with an R rating, which truly would have allowed Polson to let loose with a little teen savagery.

In the film, Jesse Bradford (“Clockstoppers,” “Bring it On”) is Ben Cronin, a high school swimming champ whose checkered past involves all sorts of extracurricular activities, such as rampant drug use and theft, several run-ins with the law and some downtime in jail.

Happily, all of that unpleasantness seems to be behind him. Now, Ben’s life is centered around winning a swimming scholarship to Stanford, working part time at the hospital where his mother works as a nurse, studying hard to get good grades and spending quality time with his girlfriend, Amy (Shiri Appleby), who’s the love of Ben’s young life and the reason he’s kept himself out of trouble for so long.

Unfortunately for Ben, the new town tramp, Madison Bell (Erika Christensen), also has her eyes set on him – not to mention her claws. With a face like a cherub, the cold-blooded gaze of a snake and a cloud of blond curls that could conceal a machete, Madison proves herself a force to be reckoned with after she seduces Ben in the school pool, demands a place in his life and then sets out to destroy it and him when she doesn’t get what she wants.

What ensues is so pointedly modeled after “Attraction’s” crowd-pleasing formula, it’s sometimes difficult to know whether to admire “Swimfan” for being such a tidy little mimic that admittedly has its moments or to hate it for its utter lack of ingenuity and creativity. The film was co-produced by Michael Douglas’ production company, Further Films, which accounts for the many parallels it shares with “Attraction,” most notable of which is its waterlogged ending, an absurd, over-the-top rush that could easily give Lyne’s own ending a run for its money.

Grade: C

On video and DVD

FRAILTY, directed by Bill Paxton, written by Brent Hanley, 100 minutes, rated R.

In spite of an engaging first half that’s genuinely unnerving and an understated performance from Matthew McConaughey that suggests the actor’s career has some life left to it yet, Bill Paxton’s overpraised thriller, “Frailty,” is ultimately as superficial as a bruise.

Told in flashback by McConaughey to an FBI agent played by Powers Boothe, the film is about a single father identified only as Dad (Paxton) who wakes one evening to find God glowing in the center of his bowling trophy.

Instead of offering Dad the gift of a perfect game, God offers Dad something potentially more rewarding: the divine order to kill those demons living in his West Texas neighborhood.

Thrilled by the prospect, Dad wakes his two sons – 12-year-old Fenton (Matt O’Leary) and 9-year-old Adam (Jeremy Sumpter) – to tell them the good news, which is when the bad family vibes start. Indeed, so intent is Dad that his sons connect with God as he has, he insists that they join him in the murders, a gruesome task that involves collecting those people on Dad’s divine list, taking them back to the family’s newly constructed dungeon, and then wielding an ax named Otis into their heads, throats, arms and legs. Fenton, the wild card, wants none of it, an unhappy situation for Dad that generates much of the film’s considerable fireworks.

The subject of “Frailty” is such that it can’t help eliciting the revulsion it seeks; there’s no denying there’s physical power when Dad swings his ax – or emotional power when he turns to his sons and orders them to do the same.

But by the end, what’s also clear is that “Frailty” ultimately has no interest in these boys beyond exploiting them for a few thrills and to create a marketing buzz. We don’t learn anything about them beyond what serves the plot – or the ridiculous twists that come at the end – which seems to me a more appropriate place for Dad to bury his ax.

Grade: C-

Christopher Smith is the Bangor Daily News film critic. His reviews appear Mondays and Fridays in Style, occasionally on E! Entertainment’s “E! News Weekend,” Tuesdays on “NEWS CENTER at 5” and Thursdays on “NEWS CENTER at 5:30” on WLBZ-2 and WCSH-6. He can be reached at BDNFilm1@aol.com.

The Video-DVD Corner

Renting a video or a DVD? NEWS film critic Christopher Smith can help. Below are his grades of recent releases in video stores.

Changing Lanes ? B

Count of Monte Cristo ? B+

Frailty ? C-

Blade II: B+

High Crimes ? C

Queen of the Damned ? C-

Iris ? B

Joe Somebody ? D

The Rookie ? A-

The Sweetest Thing ? D+

We Were Soldiers ? B+

Birthday Girl ? B

The Business of Strangers ? B

Clockstoppers ? C

In the Bedroom ? A

The New Guy ? D

Showtime ? C+

Deuces Wild ? D-

Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring ? B+

Collateral Damage ? D

Dragonfly ? D

Resident Evil ? C-

Crossroads ? C-

Kung Pow: Enter the Fist: B-

The Time Machine ? D-

Amelie ? A

John Q. ? C-

Pinero ? B

Charlotte Gray ? B+

Hart’s War ? B

The Royal Tenenbaums ? B+

Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius ? B+

Shallow Hal ? C

A Beautiful Mind ? B

Gosford Park ? B+

I Am Sam ? C

The Majestic ? D-

Max Keeble’s Big Move ? B

Orange County ? C-

The Shipping News ? C

Rollerball ? F

Black Hawk Down ? B

Kate & Leopold ? C+

Monster’s Ball ? A

The Mothman Prophecies ? C

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone ? B 3/4

Sidewalks of New York ? B-

Lantana ? A

Vanilla Sky ? B+

Corky Romano ? D-

From Hell ? C

The Others ? B+

Snow Dogs ? B-

Ocean’s Eleven ? B

Waking Life ? A

Ali ? B+

Not Another Teen Movie ? C-

Behind Enemy Lines ? C-

No Man’s Land ? A

Black Knight ? F

The Deep End ? A

Domestic Disturbance ? C

The Man Who Wasn’t There ? B+

Mulholland Drive ? A

Spy Game ? C+

Bandits ? D

13 Ghosts ? F

Donnie Darko ? B

K-Pax ? B-

Life as a House ? C

Original Sin ? F

Our Lady of the Assassins ? B+

Riding in Cars with Boys ? B-

Training Day ? B-

Heist ? B+

Joy Ride ? B+