Danielle Solzman
A zealous movie fan in The Fanatic strongly insists that he isn’t a stalker even as he does the things that nobody could possibly imagine.
By any term of the definition, Moose (John Travolta) is a stalker. He’s more of a “stan,” a term that combines both stalker and fan. Moose certainly denies this but the facts are facts. The target of Moose’s obsession is none other than action hero Hunter Dunbar (Devon Sawa). Moose has an opportunity to meet Hunter but things soon go sour. Enter paparazzi photographer Leah (Ana Golja) and there’s new life on the chase.
Leah informs Moose about a party that Hunter is attending. Unfortunately for Moose, Hunter is a no-show but he encounters Amanda (Denny Mendez) instead. Moose ends up crashing the party but it is not going to end well. Certainly not for him! It might seem harmless for him but it’s not going to be like this for long. After this episode, Moose takes things a bit further and turns to stalking. It’s enough that not even Leah wants to be connected to him. I wouldn’t blame Leah for wanting to cut ties with Moose. Anyone in the right mind would cut ties or beg for an intervention.
As for Hunter Dunbar? He has it coming. The sad part is that he does not even know it. Moose manages to take things way too far. How far, you ask? Well, Moose ends tying Hunter to a bed. Again, any normal fan wouldn’t do this but Moose isn’t a normal fan. He’s beyond help. He needs an intervention!
When one looks at John Travolta’s filmography of late, it’s become apparent that he’s no longer the leading man he used to be. Similar to Bruce Willis, so many films are essentially straight to Digital and VOD. Oh, there may be a theatrical release but mostly for Oscar-qualifying purposes. Not that there are any Oscars to be found here. If this film was getting a wider theatrical release, there would be multiple Razzie nominations. Honestly, I probably should have expected it to be this bad but I wasn’t expecting The Fanatic to be THIS BAD. Sure, Travolta can still win fans over during appearances but that’s another thing altogether.
This isn’t the first film with this sort of premise. The Fan came out in the early 1980s to negative reviews and a low box office. Where the two films differ is that this one isn’t even a horror film. Travolta’s antics in the film are less than what we saw from Dennis Quaid in The Intruder. Travolta manages to give the performance his all in The Fanatic but he’s come a long way from his leading man status.
DIRECTOR: Fred Durst
SCREENWRITER: Dave Bekerman and Fred Durst
CAST: John Travolta, Devon Sawa, Ana Golja, Jacob Grodnik, James Paxton
