FEVER PITCH
Reviewed by Harvey S. Karten
20th Century Fox
Grade: B-
Directed by: Bobby Farrelly, Peter Farrelly
Written by: Lowell Ganz, Babaloo Mandel, novel by Nick Hornby
Cast: Drew Barrymore, Jimmy Fallon
Screened at: AMC, NYC, 4/4/05
Have the Farrelly brothers gotten soft and cuddly?
After pushing the envelope with "There's Something About
Mary" (a popular albeit sophomoric comedy about a guy who's
never stopped loving the girl he took to the senior prom) and
presiding over "Stuck On You" (a one-joke movie about
conjoined twins), they've given us "Fever Pitch." This is a PG-
13 job whose principal claim to novelty is that the ordinary
conventions of the genre–that the couple have to be kept apart
until the end–are ignored in favor of a toe-to-toe, blissful
combination. Almost, that is, because they're pretty much
together until a split toward the conclusion of the story: both
hearts are broken for a time being, but the inevitable feel-good
ending has us leaving the theater with smiles on our lips
This is not necessary a good thing: one wonders whether the
Farrellys should have stuck to directing what they know
best–comedies with an edge, however vulgar. This time around
not even your Aunt Millie in Peoria would frown: shortly after
Ben (Jimmy Fallon) shows up for his first date with Lindsay, the
latter tries to call it off at her apartment because of illness. She
throws up in the bathroom, her dog going after the big chunks.
Unfortunately the bathroom scene occurs off screen.
"Fever Pitch" was filmed largely in Toronto with the one
exception that a good deal of the action takes place in Boston's
historic Fenway Park, home of the Boston Red Sox, who last
year won the World Series for the first time in 86 years. Fans of
the Sox blame the losing streak on the Red Sox horrendous
decision to sell The Bambino, Babe Ruth, to the Yankees.
The movie, based on Nick Hornby's novel, adapted for the
screen by Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel, is about two
people who are obsessed. Lindsey, who has a high-power job
with her own office and an assistant, is determined to win a
promotion. She hangs out with a trio of friends who discuss one
another's romances. Ben, who teaches 9th grade math and
coaches the JV baseball team, seems an excellent model for
the kids based on the shots we get in his classroom. His
obsession is the Boston Red Sox. He inherited a lifetime
season's pass near the dugout at Fenway from his uncle. When
the ninth inning is concluded, the game is never over, as his
apartment is loaded from floor to ceiling with Sox memorabilia.
Though he introduces Lindsay to the game and has her
cheering as wildly as the fans around him whom he knows and
with whom he discusses baseball statistics, Lindsay has second
thoughts about the guy when he takes a rain check on her offer
to take him without charge on a weekend trip to Paris. He
doesn't want to miss a game.
The Farrellys give us nothing here that we couldn't find on a
good TV comedy, but the movie works because of the quirky
relationship between two delightful performers, Drew Barrymore
and Jimmy Fallon–both of whom are thirty years old in real life,
though Fallon look about five years older. Romantic comedies
often end with a dramatic scene, in this case one which features
Ms. Barrymore's running from her seat in centerfield across the
length of Fenway Park to stop her man from making a decision
that he'd probably regret for a lifetime. The production notes tell
us that no trick photography was involved, that the Farrellys
actually did get the cooperation of the 37,000 fans during a
game to allow for the sprint to her true love.
"Fever Pitch," then, is a charmer with some of the usual
conventions, most prominently the idea that the loving couple
must each have a small bevy of quirky friends, each with his or
her own idiosyncracy. You don't have to be a Sox fan or even
obsessed by baseball, but if you're a New Englander like the
Farrellys, you'll get an extra charge from the game.
Rated PG-13. 101 minutes © 2005 by Harvey Karten
harveycritic@cs.com
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