Fever Pitch (1997)

A sports fan's romantic courtship clashes with his obsession with his favorite football team.

Director:

David Evans

Writers:

Nick Hornby (book), Nick Hornby (screenplay)

Stars:

Colin Firth, Ruth Gemmell, Luke Aikman

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Luke Aikman	...	Young Paul
Bea Guard	...	Paul's Sister
Neil Pearson	...	Paul's Dad
Ruth Gemmell	...	Sarah Hughes
Colin Firth	...	Paul Ashworth
Richard Claxton	...	Robert Parker
Ken Stott	...	Ted, the Headmaster
Holly Aird	...	Jo
Mark Strong	...	Steve
Lorraine Ashbourne	...	Paul's Mum
Peter Quince	...	Chip Shop: Frank
Charles Cork	...	Rex
Bob Curtiss	...	Stan
Philip Bond	...	Turnstile Operator
Scott Baker	...	Man Behind

Storyline

A romantic comedy about a man, a woman and a football team. Based on Nick Hornby's best selling autobiographical novel, Fever Pitch. English teacher Paul Ashworth believes his long standing obsession with Arsenal serves him well. But then he meets Sarah. Their relationship develops in tandem with Arsenal's roller coaster fortunes in the football league, both leading to a nail biting climax.

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Plot Keywords:

arsenal | teacher | fan | screenplay adapted by author | soccer fan | 

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Taglines:

Life gets complicated when you love one woman and worship eleven men

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Romance | Sport

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

4 April 1997 (UK)

Also Known As:

Ballfieber

Filming Locations:

Arsenal Stadium, Highbury, London, England, UK

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$2,519, 17 October 1999, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$13,600, 17 September 2000

Company Credits

Production Co:

Channel Four Films,Scala Productions,Wildgaze Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

102 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color (Rankcolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

First film version of a novel written by Nick Hornby. It also marks as his first screenplay.

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Goofs

When, as a child, Paul Ashworth goes to see the Reading FC game, the Reading FC Club Badge on the rosette of the supporters is the one which did not come into being until around the 1987-1988 season. The badge that should have been worn in the 1970s, when the match took place, was the old style 'Elm Trees' badge.

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Quotes

Sarah Hughes: I don't think that Arsenal's home form is a sturdy enough basis for marriage and parenthood, do you?
Paul Ashworth: No. Not even this season.

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Connections

Remade as Fever Pitch (2005)

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Soundtracks

There She Goes
Written by Lee Mavers
Performed by The La's

User Reviews

A classic movie about football, unless you support Spurs....

By now you would have read enough reviews to know enough about the story and the characters.

So here's my own opinion of Fever Pitch..

Like the DVD cover states for this movie, "Love footie, hate footie, you'll love Fever Pitch". Fever Pitch defines how hundreds of millions of football fans feel around the world, who are as passionate as Paul (Colin Firth) is about Arsenal FC. The relationship with his father, how we handles his classroom and the teacher next door at the school are all realistic, especially if you're living in an obsessive football supporters world, or any sport for that matter..

The fact that the Americans took this great script and tried to turn into a story of their own (See: The Perfect Catch) shows that it had great appeal on the otherside of the Atlantic.. The Americans sure have been lacking ideas lately and some have resorted to trying to remake old English classics, with somewhat less success.. e.g. The Italian Job, Alfie and now Fever Pitch

If anything, in Fever Pitch you could see Colin Firth's potential to be more than just an English character actor and we all know where his early efforts have gotten him today.

A funny film, well worth watching if you've ever been passionate about anything in life, regardless of what team you support..