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FEVER PITCH Send This Review to a Friend
In the romance between Lindsey (Drew Barrymore) and Ben ((Jimmy Fallon), the basic question is: Which is more important, love or loyalty to the Boston Red Sox? Of course, we know that by film’s end the couple will be able to have both in this romantic comedy directed by Peter and Bobby Farrelly from a screenplay by Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel, based on Nick Hornby’s book. Hornby wrote about English football. What’s a little twist when it comes to obsession about sports? “Fever Pitch” is an unabashed love letter to the Red Sox.
I suppose by way of disclosure I should admit that I’m a Yankees fan, although even so, I had nothing but admiration for the way the Red Sox came back from near defeat and won the World Series last season. That was really something to cheer. The climactic situation is the timely setting for “Fever Pitch,” in which Ben, having been turned into a fan in childhood by his uncle, prizes the permanent ticket access that his uncle bequeathed him. He and his fan pals also make a ritual of observing the Red Sox during spring training.
Lindsey is a successful, rising business executive, who falls in love with Ben, a teacher, despite concerns by friends that there must be wrong with a guy who is still single. She soon discovers that his obsession with the Sox is the flaw, but she does her best to adjust until…
Barrymore and Fallon are likable enough in their respective roles, but the whole film is rather ridiculous, best mainly when the laughs come. As a romance, things get totally silly when Lindsey races across the field with guards in pursuit during a crucial game at Fenway Park to prevent Ben from doing something that he will regret for the rest of his life.
The entire story is couched within a narration, a well-worn device. It’s an improbable tale, but then most baseball stories are, including the triumph of the Sox over the Yankees and the Sox finally breaking the curse of the Bambino. A 20th Century Fox release.
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