Rating: R
Genre:
Thriller
Release Date: 05/28/2002
SubTitles: English
Dubbed: English
Sound: DD1
Run Time: 94 Minutes
Distributor/Studio: Paramount
Lauren Bacall more or less plays herself in
The Fan. Cast as famous Broadway musical comedy star Sally Ross (with an astonishing lack of temperament!),
Bacall finds herself the unwilling love object of psychotic fan Douglas Breen (
Michael Biehn). As security around Ross tightens, Breen vows that if he can't have Ross, no one else can.
James Garner and
Maureen Stapleton are underused as, respectively,
Bacall's ex-husband and mother-hen secretary. Based on a good novel by
Bob Randall,
The Fan comes off as a slightly more expensive "stalker of the week" TV movie. Still, the film proved grimly prescient in the light of
John Lennon's assassination (which occurred after the film was completed, but before its release) and the ongoing dilemma of current Broadway stars (even the lesser lights) who are forced to hire bodyguards to protect them from worshipful wackos.
~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
