Fever Pitch (2005)

Directors:

Bobby Farrelly
Peter Farrelly

Writers (WGA):

Lowell Ganz (screenplay) &
Babaloo Mandel (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

8 April 2005 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Romance | Sport

Tagline:

A Comedy About The Game Of Love.

Plot:

Lindsay is stuck in the middle of her relationship with Ben and his passion for the Boston Red Sox.

Plot Keywords:

Boston Red Sox | Acting | Obsession | Fan | Love

Awards:

9 nominations

Cast

Drew Barrymore	...	Lindsey
Jimmy Fallon	...	Ben
Jason Spevack	...	Ben - 1980
Jack Kehler	...	Al
Scott Severance	...	Artie (as Scott H. Severance)
Jessamy Finet	...	Theresa (as Jessamy R. Finét)
Maureen Keiller	...	Viv
Lenny Clarke	...	Uncle Carl
Ione Skye	...	Molly
KaDee Strickland	...	Robin
Marissa Jaret Winokur	...	Sarah
Evan Helmuth	...	Troy
Brandon Craggs	...	Casey
Brett Murphy	...	Ryan
Isabella Fink	...	Audrey

Also Known As:

The Perfect Catch (Australia) (Hong Kong: English title) (TV title) (Ireland: English title) (New Zealand: English title) (Philippines: English title) (Singapore: English title) (South Africa: English title) (UK)
Ein Mann für eine Saison (Germany)
Fever Pitch - Ein Mann für eine Saison (Germany) (DVD box title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for crude and sexual humor, and some sensuality.

Runtime:

103 min

Country:

USA | Germany

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

Brazil:10 | Philippines:G | Germany:o.Al. | Finland:K-3 | Argentina:13 | USA:PG-13 (certificate #41504) | Iceland:L | Canada:PG (Ontario) | Malaysia:U | South Korea:12 | Netherlands:AL | Australia:M | Ireland:12A | UK:PG | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Boston, Massachusetts, USA

Company:

Fox 2000 Pictures

Trivia:

The Opening Day sequence was filmed on 4 September 2004 with Stephen King throwing out the first pitch; the Red Sox lost that game, ending a ten-game winning streak and King was blamed for it in the Boston Globe.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: In a scene set in 1980, Uncle Carl's car shows a modern Massachusetts emissions sticker on the windshield.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Al: [voice over] Eighty-six years of bangin' our heads against the big green wall, but we finally did it. That part you know. That part everybody knows. But I got a story you don't know. It's about this schoolteacher friend of mine named Ben.

Movie Connections:

References Annie Hall (1977)

Soundtrack:

The Sting

This baseball film stays in the Park

"Fever Pitch" shows what obsessions or deep passions can do to a relationship when both partners don't share the same thing or at least at the same level. Ben (Jimmy Fallon) is a devout Red Sox fan. He is a fanatic. He goes to every game, his apartment looks like a Fenway Park gift shop, and he goes to Florida every spring to watch the team play in spring training when the games don't count. Lindsey (Drew Barrymoore) is a young executive on her way up in the real world and is more or less married to her job. When the two of them eventually go out on their first date, she gets really sick, and he stays the night and takes care of her. This blows her away and she is sold. The relationship is full steam ahead, but the problem is that it's wintertime and baseball season hasn't gotten started yet. She doesn't know what she is in for.

Naturally, the Red Sox get in the way. Lindsey tries to be a good sport about it and even tries to learn the game and the two of them actually start going to games together and she becomes a fan as well. But things get out of hand when the team gets closer and closer to the playoffs and thats when problems arise.

"Fever Pitch" is cute, sweet, and has some funny moments. Jimmy Fallon is well cast and Drew Barrymoore isn't as annoying as she normally is. But there isn't anything really special about this film. Much of the arc in this film is very conventional and everyone already knows how the season turns out. Let's face it. Romantic comedies really need to be original or have something different to them to escape many of the typical clichés in this genre. At least it didn't take place in Manhattan like most of these films. "Fever Pitch" would make a nice rental and its a pretty good date film. (***)