This is one of those films that proves once again that there are limits to how much decent production values can redeem a bad script. Lenny Bruce had a great line that covers the situation: "You can't get snot off a suede jacket." Directed by the guy who helmed "Hide and Seek," which I haven't seen yet, but eventually will once I find it for free at the library like I did this one (thank goodness!), "Swimfan" (an inept title if ever I've seen one) has some nice camera-work and decent acting going for it, but not much else. It's one of those films that has you progressing from "Huh?" to "What the...?" to "Now hold on a second!" to "Oh, for God's sake!" to "Alright, now that's just ridiculous!" over the course of its beguiling but vacuous running time. The leads are attractive enough and do their best with the slim material, but simply cannot overcome the forced storyline. I know I finally gave up on it completely when bad girl Madison shot her way out of the back seat of a police cruiser. Handcuffs in front? A conveniently left-handed cop in the back seat who leaves his weapon conveniently unsecured? Please. Dan Hedaya has an uncharacteristic turn as a relatively sane swimming coach, but was obviously just taking a paycheck. Eminently skippable unless you're an Erica Christensen groupie (I found Shiri Appleby much more attractive), "Swimfan" sinks rapidly in the deep waters of its own stupidity and lack of believability.
