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Ava-Grace Willis Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

Kaydan Christian A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

Taha Avalos The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

cchires The Fan begins as if it is going to be a study of an obsessed fan in contrast to the human fallibility of a celebrity, but it ends up being a routine thriller. The film gives the fan in question some background information to display his isolation and the value he gives the Lauren Becall character. Lauren Becall is also shown as having difficulty with middle age and divorce. The two character's stories are given equal time as the movie develops, but once the fan starts acting out violently, the standard thriller clichés kick in.I get frustrated in movies where the conflict can be resolved if the characters would just act sensibly, but to string the movie along they have to be stupid. The epitome of that in this movie is in the fact that Lauren Becall's secretary - who knows that the fan is disturbed by the content of his letters - never thinks to write down the man's name in the event his obsession becomes a criminal matter. There are some good things in the movie. Maureen Stapleton, in particular, gives an interesting performance and there is some interesting camera work in the theater rehearsals. In addition, Lauren Becall displays the qualities that have made her a Hollywood icon (even though based upon what is seen, it is doubtful that anyone would want to see this musical she is in). But the movie is brought down by a script that abandoned the character study aspects in favor of focusing on the cheap thriller qualities.

patr35 I saw this movie when it first came out, and again when it first hit video. Columnist Liz Smith was in the opening scene as Sally Ross leaves the theater (prodding the star with silly questions) just before Sally is victimized by strong-hand pen theft. I wonder why this part was edited out of the DVD release, and what else might have been cut from the first print. Bacall might have reconsidered her participation in this flick if she had had a crystal ball, considering the stalker aspect of the movie and the fact that she lived in the apartment building where John Lennon also lived and was murdered at the time of filming. However, it is one of her better films, and we also get a taste of her Broadway musical talents. Her songs are Camp, but not in a trashy way. They stick with you; Crapriffic lyrics not withstanding. The book was a favorite of mine when it first hit paperback, and although the story remained the same in many ways, the ending and style are quite different. Read the book and compare.

brefane Released by Paramount, this late entry in Grand Dame Guingol was Lauren Bacall's last lead role in a feature film. Her character's name is Sally Ross, but she's basically playing herself;she smokes, she drinks, she croaks. Bacall does a good job of playing herself and Michael Beihn is effectively cast as the fan. The Fan is an efficiently directed slasher film sprinkled with nastiness and musical numbers featuring music and lyrics by Marvin Hamlisch and Tim Rice. Based on Bob Randal's novel, which was written in the form of letters, the film uses extensive voice over to good effect. Something of an oddity, The Fan mixes camp, songs, and horror. The slasher scenes seem inspired by DePalma and Dario Argentio. The worst aspect of the film is a dull James Garner as Bacall's ex; his character has no bearing on the plot, and no business being in this film. The film makes for an so-so thriller in which an individual in peril makes not all the wrong decisions and the concluding scenes are noticeably contrived. The film is distinguished by it's celebrity stalker theme, and gets a boost from Maureen Stapleton as Bacall's quick-witted assistant, NYC locations, a genre-appropriate score, and good photography.Several comments made regarding the film's perceived homophobia seem to miss the point of the scene in the gay bar; Douglas clearly planned to fake his suicide, and needed his victim's corpse for that purpose. Douglas is portrayed as delusional, so his sexuality, whatever it may be, would seem to be repressed. Whether Douglas is gay or not isn't the issue here. The Paramount DVD release omits the line heard in the theatrical release, "How'd you like to get f#*ked by a meat cleaver b*tch!?" It was heard in Douglas' voice-over when the maid's body is discovered. See The Fan for what it is:competent, glossy trash, and you'll wind up enjoying it.

matt_tawesson-1 This movie, 1981's "The Fan" stars screen legend Lauren Bacall, Michael Biehn, and Maureen Stapleton. Bacall plays an actress of stage and screen Sally Ross. Biehn plays a man named Douglas Breene, who is a fan of Sally's, and Stapleton plays Belle Goldman, who is Sally's secretary. Douglas works in a record store, and is a fan of Sally. But he is not an ordinary fan; he has an out of control, psychological obsession of her that turns pretty ugly. He writes Sally almost every day expecting an answer from her directly, but gets answered by Belle. During this movie, you see how crazy, disturbed (and increasingly dangerous) Douglas is. A variety of odd things start happening. In one scene, he is in his apartment pretending to have a candlelit dinner with Sally, he sends Sally a very pornographic letter that gets answered by Belle in a reprimand, he sends another letter to her (in person) that he hopes she will receive, but it gets to Belle instead, he goes and buys a straight razor as a weapon, sees Belle in the hall of the subway station, goes up to her and cuts her face, then he goes after David, one of Sally's friends and slashes him (possibly kills him) at a public swimming pool, then goes after Sally's maid and kills her in the apartment by slashing her breasts (which was the real shocker), destroys the apartment, goes to a gay bar and sees a guy who looks almost exactly like him, and kills him by dousing gasoline on the guy and throwing a match on him to prove to Sally in a note that she is free, etc., then attends Sally's musical when it's almost over and goes backstage to kill other people (first the stage office manager, then Sally's new maid), and then there's the confrontation between Sally and Douglas (a small chase and then he catches up with her). Then, after a bit of his dialog of obsession he has with Sally and embraces her, she quickly stabs Doug in the neck and he is gone. I first saw this movie on TV years ago when I was a kid, and saw it again years later in the late '90s on Encore (taping it). The chilling incidental music is wonderful as well. I do like this movie a lot (but not the sadistic slayings). I am going to get the DVD of this movie soon. See it while you can!! Also, James Garner (from TV's "The Rockford Files") plays Sally's love interest. The actors were great; kudos to them!! Great movie, so why give it negative reviews, folks???