Swimfan

Best enjoyed as unintentional comedy, Swimfan is Fatal Attraction in high school, with a modest trick up its sleeve. Pay close attention to the opening minutes and you'll understand why new student Madison Bell (Erika Christensen) is so obsessed with swim-team star Ben Cronin (Jesse Bradford), but the movie's nearly over before that early clue is fully explained. By that time anyone with a pulse will be ahead of the hackneyed screenplay, so Madison's fatal attraction turns increasingly, and hilariously, predictable. Poor Ben has to suffer her suffocating manipulations, assuring his girlfriend (Shiri Appleby) that his quickie with Madison was a one-time mistake. Too late! Madison conned him into saying "I love you," and she's determined to be his girl... no matter what it takes. Credit Bradford and especially Christensen for keeping a straight face, and Aussie director John Polson for milking tension out of this trashy take on psychotic jealousy. Against all odds, it's garishly entertaining. --Jeff Shannon