Moose is a rabid movie fan who's obsessed with his favourite celebrity action hero, Hunter Dunbar. When cheated out of his opportunity to meet Hunter, Moose gets help from a photographer who knows how to find celebrity homes. When Moose's actions begin to take a darker turn, Dunbar soon finds himself at the mercy of his increasingly dangerous stalker.
Seeing the trailer for this film, you can see that it was going to be bad. So bad that on its opening day it only managed to make just over $3,000 in US theatres. Only being screened at 52 theatres around the US, and this abysmal box office so far, there is little hope in the film getting a theatrical release in New Zealand. The film does look so bad that it could be funny, so I wanted to check it out and let you know whether this is a film that you need to stream online once it's fully available, or just something to forget was ever made.
The first thing that makes you question the quality of the film is the director, Fred Durst. Fred Durst is, of course, the lead singer of 90's nu-metal group, Limp Bizkit. This isn't his directorial debut though, as he also directed The Longshots (starring Ice Cube) and The Education of Charlie Banks (which starred Jesse Eisenberg) along with around 20 music videos. The second aspect that makes you question the potential quality is the main actor, John Travolta. Travolta as had a few great roles, but looking at his filmography, he prefers to go for the more over-the-top (almost flamboyant) roles. Out of the last 13 films he was in the only title I recognise was Gotti, which managed a whopping 0% on the critics Tomatometer.
That's enough conjecture, The Fanatic IS another over-the-top performance by Travolta. You cannot say that he doesn't give his all in his performances, but also cannot say that it is worth the effort. Travolta plays Moose, a character that clearly has some sort of issue; whether it be autism, Tourettes, social disorders, or mental disability. It isn't ever explained at any point what his major dysfunction is, much to the detriment of the film, as it leaves the audience in that zone where it is uncomfortable to laugh at such characters. Is it a person being silly? Or am I mocking someone's disability? Without the boundaries set, we cannot judge if this is comedic, or simply offensive.
With a lot of rocking back and forth, odd choices in dialogue (his first sentence in the film is about needing to poop), repetitive tendencies, awkward social interactions, obsessive tendencies, horrible haircut, and abysmal fashion sense, Moose is like Napolean Dynamite on drugs, and lacking any awareness of anything beyond his own wants. It is stupid, comical, and excessive, all at once.
These personality traits make Moose an unlikeable character. He is already showing dangerous tendencies and is willing to do illegal things at the start of the film, which makes him very difficult to empathise. It's peculiar because he is meant to be the protagonist (if the film has one), and the object of Moose's desires, Mr Hunter Dunbar (portrayed by Devon Sawa) is also an awful character with minimal redeeming characteristics. How on earth the audience is expected to root for either character is beyond explanation.
The supporting characters are all incredibly one-dimensional and sit at either extreme of the spectrum; they are either the nicest, most forgiving, naive people you have met, or they would fit in with the bullies in 2017's It and would have no qualms with writing messages in your stomach with a knife. The contrast is very noticeable. It's as if these are the first attempts at writing a character by a child; the bad man is bad, and the good man is good because. That's the level of justification we get for any behaviour.
Because both of our main characters are not very likeable characters, there is actually little to no conflict in the film. There are no real misunderstood motives. Everything is very straightforward. We don't feel bad for Moose in any of the situations that he ends up in, because they are all his fault. We don't care about what happens to Hunter because he antagonised Moose. There is no source of tension in the film. Things just happen with minimal consequence.
The Fanatic comes across like a poorly formed reinterpretation of One Hour Photo, that wants to place the focus on toxic fan culture, but it is so poorly executed that it is laughable. So much doesn't make sense; the narration that adds nothing to the film, the side characters that not only allow Moose's behaviour but encourage it, the cringe-worthy behaviour, Durst actually inserting Limp Bizkit music into the film. It all adds up to a film that is so bad that you can't help but laugh at it.
There are maybe two scenes that work well in the film, everything else is 1st-tier predictable with an inconsistent tone that can't decide if the film is serious or comedic. It's a mess of poorly thought-out ideas. So yes, this will be a movie to catch in some form or another. Get your group of friends together, have a few wines and brews, and laugh-out-loud at another questionable role choice from Travolta.