The Fanatic ★
IS John Travolta kidding with his portrayal of the lead character in The Fanatic?
The most charitable thing you can say about his portrayal of a man with learning difficulties is that it’s terribly cliched and mis-judged.
But it can also be described as lazy, mean and/or insulting. Take your pick.
To start with, the script, by Limp Bizkit front man Fred Durst, doesn’t even give the character a proper name – just Moose – which I gather is meant to be endearing…but isn’t.
Then they dress him ridiculously and give him a bad haircut – presumably depicting that the character doesn’t care and/or understand how he looks, which is patronising at the least.
He is given no back story to explain how and why he has ended up living in a decent home without the required financial means, suggesting director/writer Durst doesn’t care and doesn’t think anyone else will either.
And the twist in the story – that the person he is stalking turns out to be even worse than him – is just a lazy device that reduces that person to a caricature as well.
Durst apparently wrote the film based on his own experience with a stalker. How that relates to this film and characters I have absolutely no idea.
The suspension of disbelief required to enjoy the film is astounding. For example, a body lying openly in a celebrity’s regularly-tended yard goes unnoticed for what seems like days. Ridiculous.
Durst’s first feature, 2007’s The Education of Charlie Banks, is regarded by critics but this third effort is a failure in every respect.
I’m giving it one sarcastic star for Durst’s audacity to have one of his characters play Limp Bizkit on his car stereo and tell the passenger how much he loves the music.
As for Travolta, this is his worst performance by a long way.