Web Edition

NEWS

FEATURES

ENTERTAINMENT

COLUMNS

CONTACT US

For more movie summaries, see Kam's Kapsules.

Fever Pitch: Red Sox Fan Frustrates Impatient Mate in Charming Romantic Comedy

Review by Kam Williams

When Lindsay Meeks (Drew Barrymore) meets Ben Wrightman (Jimmy Fallon), it seems like a perfect match. She's a driven businesswoman in need of an understanding man with a mellow approach to life, and Ben is a happy-go-lucky high school teacher with a great sense of humor who gets along well with kids.

So, the sparks fly, they start dating, and a relationship blossoms over the winter. However, Lindsay doesn't know that she has some stiff competition waiting in the wings from Ben's beloved Red Sox.

He's been a die-hard season ticket-holder for 23 years, and as much as he's smitten by Lindsay, until now, nothing has ever come between him and his fanatical devotion to the Red Sox. Because he's convinced his team needs him there in the stands to help break the curse of the Bambino, an unusual love triangle unfolds.

The movie was directed by the Farrelly Brothers, Peter and Bobby, primarily known for low brow comedy. Usually, they resort to toilet humor and jokes at the expense of the handicapped, such the mentally retarded (Dumb and Dumber), Siamese twins (Stuck on You), the morbidly obese (Shallow Hal), a schizophrenic (Me, Myself & Irene), or the crippled (There's Something about Mary).

The Farrelly's set most of their movies in their native New England, so it is no surprise that they made a movie about the region's major league baseball team. However, they have toned down their crude humor to produce Fever Pitch, which is based on the Nick Hornby autobiography of the same name.

The best selling English author has had a couple of his other books adapted into big-budget movies before, including About a Boy and High Fidelity. In fact, Fever Pitch is actually a revision of the original, which focused on Hornby's local soccer club.

The memoir has been substantially changed for the American audience. Drew Barrymore gives an excellent performance as lady-in-waiting Lindsey opposite Jimmy Fallon's equally impressive portrayal of a jittery, baseball-obsessed beau.

Shot mostly in Toronto, Fever Pitch features plenty of authentic stadium footage from the Red Sox's miraculous comeback against the Yankees last fall. Unfortunately, the detailed recounting of that amazing feat and Boston's subsequent historic, World Series win, dominate the movie, so that, by film's end, the resolution of Ben and Lindsay's issues seems like an anti-climactic afterthought.

Very Good (3 stars). Rating: PG-13 for crude humor, sexual humor, and some sensuality. Running time: 103 minutes. Studio: 20th Century Fox. Kam Williams

end of review.