‘The Fanatic’ Movie Review

Directed by Fred Durst, of all people, The Fanatic is a stalker flick about a guy named Moose (John Travolta) who idolizes an actor named Hunter Dunbar (Devon Sawa). After just barely missing his chance to get Dunbar’s autograph, Moose approaches him in the alleyway as he is leaving. When Dunbar understandably tells him off, it only makes Moose even more obsessed with him, and that obsession soon begins to spill over into Hunter’s personal life.

This is one of the most hilarious trainwrecks I’ve seen in quite a while. My god, this movie is inept. As stated before, the film is directed and co-written by Limp Bizkit frontman Fred Durst. With this film, Durst has proven that not only does he have zero musical talent, he’s no better at filmmaking. To make matters worse, there’s even a scene in which a character is talking about how much he loves Limp Bizkit while blasting it in his car. As if the movie wasn’t stupid enough...

I can say one thing in this film’s favor, but even then, it’s not really about the film itself. The one positive thing I can say is that, not matter what kind of movie he’s in, John Travolta always commits. And he loves to play over-the-top characters, which is especially evident in his post-80s career. Sometimes it works perfectly, like in Face/Off or Broken Arrow. But other times, you get crap like Battlefield Earth or The Punisher. His current career slump certainly isn’t due to a lack of effort, and I have to respect that (to a degree). He’s had a handful of recent successes, like In a Valley of Violence, but the days of Saturday Night Fever are clearly long gone.

Moose, as a character, is incredibly problematic. He’s clearly portrayed as being on the autism spectrum, but he’s written and performed in an absolutely absurd way. This is exactly the kind of character/performance that Tropic Thunder was parodying with Simple Jack. And Travolta absolutely went full... well, you know. It would be insanely offensive if it wasn’t so unintentionally comical. Don’t get me wrong, it is a misguided attempt at portraying someone with a mental disability, but it’s hard to be too upset when it’s this ridiculous.

Another huge problem is that neither lead character is worth rooting for. I feel like the film wanted us to root for one of them, but they’re both so unlikable that I wasn’t even sure whom. Moose is clearly in the wrong, but there never seems to be any redemption or lesson learned. Hunter Dunbar is very much the victim, but he’s just such an asshole. Even when he’s lashing out at Moose for stalking him, he’s still way too mean-spirited. I just didn’t get it, and I had no idea what it was trying to do or say. I think we were supposed to sympathize with Moose, but there is a certain point in the movie in which he just becomes malicious (again, adding to the insensitive nature of the character). If the movie was supposed to be a scathing critique of a society in which there are no heroes, I would get it, but it doesn’t seem like that’s what they’re going for. And again, it’s hard to feel too much sympathy for a character that’s just so damn goofy.

The Fanatic is uncannily ridiculous, and it’s amazing for all the wrong reasons. Its insensitive portrayal of mental disability would be far more appalling if it weren’t so silly. Travolta goes all in, but it, unfortunately, just adds more nonsense to this hysterically awful trainwreck.

SCORE: 1/5