Main Cast: Drew Barrymore, Jimmy Fallon, Jason Spevack, Jack Kehler, Scott H. Severance
Release Year: 2005
Country: US
Run Time: 98 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG13
Plot
Nick Hornby's acclaimed memoir about one man's struggle to balance his love of a woman and his love for soccer was the basis of a well-reviewed British film in 1997, and now gets a Americanized rewrite with this picture, in which the game is changed from soccer to baseball. Ben (Jimmy Fallon) is a high-school teacher who meets Lindsay (Drew Barrymore), who has a successful career in business. Ben and Lindsay don't appear to have much in common on the surface, but they hit it off and are soon involved in a serious romance. But when spring rolls around, Lindsay becomes aware of the true love of Ben's life -- the Boston Red Sox. Despite the team's lamentable record, Ben has been a fiercely loyal Red Sox fan since childhood, and Lindsay finds it hard to compete with his passion for baseball, while Ben is forced to choose between the obsessions of his youth and the enthusiasms of a responsible adult. Fever Pitch was shot in part in Boston during the 2004 baseball season, which to the surprise of the filmmakers saw the Red Sox winning baseball's world series for the first time since 1918. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Review
The American version of Fever Pitch does a fine job of changing little aspects of the lead character in order to make him both more American and more palatable to American audiences. The original British character, obsessed with the football club Arsenal, was prickly even aside from his obsession. The obsession seemed a natural part of his less-than-pleasant psychological makeup. Jimmy Fallon's Red Sox-loving Ben has had his rough edges sanded down. His character lacks the full-blown misanthropy of the original character, making him more of a man-child than anything else. Fallon smartly underplays much of the film, an unexpected surprise after his manic work in Taxi and on Saturday Night Live. He and Drew Barrymore have a very sweet chemistry together, but it's possible that is more to Barrymore's credit. Considering her track record in these things, it becomes more and more apparent that Drew Barrymore is a big reason this film earns as much good will as it does. Here is an actress, just turned 30, who has figured out exactly what it is she does very well onscreen and is able to shape projects to fit her. Barrymore produced this film and if nothing else she understands exactly how to make films her fans will enjoy while straying just enough from the expected formula to keep people interested. Peter and Bobby Farrelly will never be thought of as visual stylists, but they know to trust their performers and they are sports fans. These two aspects underscore Ben's likeability. This Fever Pitch never comes close to matching the psychological depth of the original adaptation (starring an outstanding Colin Firth), but it does make for a nice time at the movies. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
Jessamy R. Finét - Teresa; Maureen Keiller - Viv; Lenny Clarke - Uncle Carl; Ione Skye - Molly; KaDee Strickland - Robin; Jackie Burroughs - Mrs. Warren; Willie Garson - Kevin; Daniel Greene - Waiter; Tim McCarver - Himself; James B. Sikking - Doug Meeks; JoBeth Williams - Maureen Meeks; Wayne Fleming - Leon; Andrew Wilson - Grant Wade; Zen Gesner - Steve; Charlotte Sullivan - Spin Instructor; Danny Murphy - 1980's Vendor #1; Johnny Sneed - Chris; Marissa Jaret Winokur - Sarah; Miranda Black - Carrie; George Ghali - Vern (gym Teacher); John Boylan - Myerson; Siobhan Fallon-Hogan - Lana; Quancetia Hamilton - Rita; Armando Riesco - Gerard; Evan Helmuth - Troy; Bart Bedford - Man At Other Table; Michael Rubenfeld - Ian; Peter Gammons - Himself; Darren Frost - Zach; J. C. Kenny - Reporter; Brandon Craggs - Casey; Brett Murphy - Ryan; Isabella Fink - Audrey; Greta Onieogou - Tammy; Mark Andrada - Ezra; Scott Desano - Binocular Guy; Lizz Alexander - Charlene; Shary Guthrie - Christie; Don Gavin - Cop; Dan Darin-Zanco - Husband; Gina Clayton - Lady At Other Table; Bobby Curcuro - Loiterer; Jason Varitek - Himself; Johnny Damon - Himself; Trot Nixon - Himself; Paul Mcguire - Reporter; Ken Rogerson - Scalper; Howard Nickerson - Usher; Matt Watts - Valet; Andrea Davis - Wife; Sharlene Yuen - Receptionist; Geoffrey Williamson - High School Kid #1; Jim Rice - Himself; Dennis Eckersley - Himself; Keith Macwhorter - Himself; Melinda Lopez - Sheri; Sam Dissanayake - Mr. Abdo; Steve Levy - Reporter At Spring Training; Don Orsillo - Himself; Harold Reynolds - Himself; Matthew Peart - High School Kid #2; David Klar - High School Kid #3; Jermaine Plummer - High School Kid #4; Erin Nanstad - Female Fan; Johnny Cicco - Obnoxious Fan; Brian Hayes Currie - Screaming Fan; Bob Weekes - Hot Dog Vendor #1; John Ruggiero - Hot Dog Vendor #2; Dan Cummings - 1980's Vendor #2; Jordan Leandre - Himself; George King - Mr. Munsell
Credit
Sophie De Rakoff - Costume Designer, Bobby Farrelly - Director, Peter Farrelly - Director, Allan E. Baumgarten - Editor, Marc S. Fischer - Executive Producer, Nick Hornby - Executive Producer, David Evans - Executive Producer, Craig Armstrong - Composer (Music Score), Manish Raval - Musical Direction/Supervision, Tom Wolfe - Musical Direction/Supervision, Maher Ahmad - Production Designer, Matthew Leonetti - Cinematographer, Drew Barrymore - Producer, Gil Netter - Producer, Bradley Thomas - Producer, Alan Greenspan - Producer, Amanda Posey - Producer, Nancy Juvonen - Producer, Lowell Ganz - Screenwriter, Babaloo Mandel - Screenwriter, Flower Films - Presented by, Jim Mitchell - Best Boy Electric, Roland Gauvin - Best Boy Grip, Daryl Richardson - Best Boy Grip, Nick Hornby - Book Author, Bob Pearson - Head Carpenter, Douglas Cluff - Painter, Eric Levenson - Painter
Fever Pitch, which was released as The Perfect Catch outside of the United States and Canada, is a Farrelly brothersromantic comedy film. It is a remake of a 1997 British film of the same name. Both films are loosely based on the Nick Hornby book of the same name, a best-selling memoir in the UK. Hornby also wrote the screenplay for the original film, but had no input for the American remake. While both the book and the original 1997 film are about "football" (called soccer in United States), this version, aimed at the US market, is about baseball. The film opened in theaters on April 8, 2005.
The movie begins with Ben Wrightman as a 7 year old going to a Red Sox game with his Uncle Carl. His uncle treated him like a son because he had no kids of his own. The opening narrative explains that ever since that day, Ben became a die-hard Red Sox fan. Just about everything he owns bears the Red Sox name, emblem or the image of a Red Sox player (with the exception of his toilet paper, which bears the New York Yankees insignia). Ben inherited his uncle's season tickets when he died. The story picks up 23 years later with Ben (Jimmy Fallon) as a school teacher who is still rather immature for his age. He meets Lindsey Meeks (Drew Barrymore), a professionally successful workaholic executive. Overcoming her initial hesitance, she becomes attracted to him because of his ability to show a passionate commitment to something. That spring, he later pretends he is proposing to her, but instead asks her to the Red Sox home opener. Lindsey attends, but not being a baseball or Red Sox fan, she knows nothing about the Curse of the Bambino or even how to pronounce the name Yastrzemski. The two continue to attend the games together until one summer night when Lindsey attempts to catch up on work by taking her laptop to the game. Not paying attention to the game, she is knocked out by a line drivefoul ball by then Baltimore OriolesshortstopMiguel Tejada off Mike Myers. She eventually recovers, but stops going to the games.
Things take a turn for the worse when Lindsey invites Ben to go with her to Paris and he rejects the offer because the Red Sox are in the heat of the playoff race. Before leaving for Paris, she tells Ben she is "late" and may be pregnant with his child. Lindsey starts to become fed up with Ben's obsession with the Red Sox. Ben agrees to miss a game against the Yankees in order to go with Lindsey to her friend's birthday party. Ben and Lindsey have a wonderful time together, and after a little bit of amazing sex, he tells her it was one of the best nights of his life. Moments later, Ben receives a call from his ecstatic friend Troy who informs him that the Red Sox overcame a seven run deficit in the bottom of the ninth inning to pull off one of the greatest comebacks in team history. Ben becomes irate that he missed such an historic Red Sox moment, greatly hurting Lindsey's feelings. After Lindsey miserably declares he has broken her heart, he and Lindsey separate for awhile.
Ben soon misses Lindsey, and visits her in a futile attempt to reconcile. He eventually feels her loss so deeply that he plans to sell his season tickets in order to prove that she means more to him than the Red Sox. Lindsey finds out about his plan during the celebration for her much-anticipated promotion. Immediately leaving the celebration, she rushes to the ballpark to try and stop him. She gets in during the 8th inning of the Red Sox - Yankees playoff game when the Sox are just 3 outs away from being swept. Ben is actually in the process of signing a contract with the prospective ticket-buyer as they sit in the stands. Because she is unable to reach Ben from her section in Fenway Park in time to stop him from signing the contract, she illegally runs across the field, deftly avoiding security personnel as she eventually reaches him. She explains that if he loves her enough to sell his seats, then she loves him enough not to allow him to do so. The two reunite and kiss in front of the entire crowd before she is thrown out.
The movie ends with a narrative explaining how the Red Sox won that game, then beat the Yankees three more times for the pennant, later sweeping St. Louis Cardinals in for their first World Series title in 86 years. Ben and Lindsay get married. She gets pregnant but the movie ends with a narrative explaining that the baby will be named after one of the players. The original plot had assumed the Sox would lose in the playoffs, however when they kept winning in 2004, the ending had to be rewritten and additional scenes were shot in St. Louis, Missouri.
The movie has a 63% "fresh" rating at Rotten Tomatoes and a rating of 56 from Metacritic.[1][2] Popular sportswriter (and passionate Red Sox fan) Bill Simmons has been particularly critical of the film, even dedicating one of his columns to criticizing it.[3] Among his complaints: the movie paints a stereotypical and untrue picture of pessimistic Red Sox fans (he claims that few fans believe in the Curse of the Bambino, and that having characters talk about it ruins the film's credibility) and that filming on the field during the post-World Series celebration shows a lack of respect by the directors.
From a cinematographic and literary perspective, the film received some favorable criticism from experts Roger Ebert[4] and James Berardinelli.[5]
Fever Pitch was a commercial success in theatres.[6] The film opened at #3 and grossed $12.4 million in its opening weekend.[6] The final domestic gross of the film was just over $42 million dollars, and the worldwide gross was just over $50 million.[7]
