I wanted to watch this one.
The presence of the Red Sox in Fever Pitch just barely tipped the scales to pique my interest, despite having to endure 100 minutes of Jimmy Fallon.
Chick flick stalwart Drew Barrymore stars opposite Fallon as Lindsey, a career-minded woman who thinks she’s found the perfect guy in Fallon’s Ben…until the Red Sox obsession surfaces.
Fallon is only tolerable in doses measured with an electron microscope, so anytime he flailed his arms or did whatever it is that made him famous in the first place made me beg I was watching something with Colin Firth in it, who incidentally starred in the British version of this movie (sans Sox, add Arsenal).
Lindsey can’t wrap her head around Ben’s obsession and Ben can’t contain his obsession long enough to give Lindsey a share of the relationship at least equal to Ted Williams’ career batting average.
I recall watching (in Spain mind you) the Spain-France game in the knockout stage in the 2006 World Cup. Decked out in the jersey of the La Furia Roja, my wife thought it would be a good idea to shout a phrase (that still recurs in my nightmares) at the exact time the game fell apart for Spain.
After the “Viva La France” cry was heard, there was no going back. I explained, in so many words, that you cannot, under any circumstances, root against a man’s team like that. I had to sleep on the floor that night, but I think I made my point.
A similar situation occurs in the movie when Lindsay tries to console Ben with the ‘it’s just a game’ line after he realizes he missed the biggest win of his life. This provokes the third phase of the movie where each side must work to reconcile before the inevitable, sugary ending that concludes most movies men get dragged to.
The first two-thirds of the movie were easy enough to get through, but by the time the third act rolled in, it was time to switch the plausibility detector off.
As with most romantic-comedies, all the problems created so far in the movie get miraculously resolved in a giant set piece that would make Rube Goldberg proud. Without going into to many details, everybody gets back together at Game 4 of the now-legendary Red Sox-Yankees playoff match-up.
Seven Circles of Cinema location: Third Circle, in the I Thought This Was A Sports Movie section
I enjoyed “Fever Pitch” myself; I’m a sucker for certain kinds of rom-coms, and “Fever Pitch” is pretty safe territory for a guy whose Grandma is from the Boston area and a life-long Red Sox fan (it was also safer than, say, any “Sex and the City” episode – unless you’re watching it in the hopes that Kim Cattrall gets nekkid).
You’re spot-on about Fallon. I can usually only take so much of the guy before I have to move on to something else.
Random side note, mildly related: Went to a D’backs game a couple of weeks ago (for free), and chanting “To-ron-to! To-ron-to! To-ron-to!” with a friend and seeing the reaction of fans (AZ was playing the Braves, mind you), made me want to next go to Fenway and start screaming out the far more dangerous chant of “Yank-ees! Yank-ees! Yank-ees!”…just to see what might happen….
[...] by a common actor. The other two movies in The Drew Barrymore collection are Never Been Kissed and Fever Pitch, both movies involving annoying characters, improbable miscommunications and baseball. Ever After [...]
The chemistry between Fallon and Barrymore makes this film so much better. I just wish there was so much more to like, check out my review when you can!