Fever Pitch (2005)

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

Directors:

Bobby Farrelly, Peter Farrelly

Writers:

Lowell Ganz (screenplay), Babaloo Mandel (screenplay)

Stars:

Drew Barrymore, Jimmy Fallon, Jason Spevack

9 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Drew Barrymore	...	Lindsey
Jimmy Fallon	...	Ben
Jason Spevack	...	Ben - 1980
Jack Kehler	...	Al
Scott Severance	...	Artie (as Scott H. Severance)
Jessamy Finet	...	Teresa (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

Storyline

When relaxed and charming Ben Wrightman meets workaholic Lindsey Meeks she finds him sweet and charming, they hit it off and when it is winter Ben can spend every waking hour with Lindsey, but when summer comes around the corner Lindsey discovers Ben's obsession with the Boston Red Sox. She thinks it is perfect until everything goes downhill for them.

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Plot Keywords:

boston red sox | baltimore orioles | world series | ups | promotion | 

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Taglines:

A Comedy About The Game Of Love.

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Romance | Sport

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

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

Details

Country:

USA Germany

Language:

English

Release Date:

8 April 2005 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Perfect Catch

Filming Locations:

Showline Studios, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Box Office

Budget:

$30,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$12,400,125, 10 April 2005

Gross USA:

$42,071,069

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$50,451,307

Company Credits

Production Co:

Fox 2000 Pictures, Flower Films (II), Wildgaze Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

104 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital (Dolby Digital 5.1) (5.1 Surround Sound) (5.1) DTS (DTS HD Master Audio 5.1) (5.1 Surround Sound) (5.1) D-Cinema 48kHz 5.1 (D-Cinema prints) (5.1 Surround Sound) (5.1)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

On 27 October 2004, Game 4 of the 2004 World Series between the St. Louis Cardinals and Boston Red Sox, the finale of this film was shot. After the last play of the game in the bottom of the ninth during the Red Sox celebration, stars Drew Barrymore and Jimmy Fallon were filmed also celebrating together on the field. A brief shot of the filming could be seen live on the Fox broadcast of the World Series. Rewrites by Peter Farrelly and Bobby Farrelly had to be done immediately following the World Series game 7 clincher of the ALCS against the New York Yankees to include the historic 2004 Boston Red Sox post-season.

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Goofs

When it is revealed that the Yankees officially clinch the division, the "F" indicating the final score goes up from inside the hand-operated scoreboard while an inning is in progress. This is OK. The American League out-of-town scores are changed from behind. The National League out of town scores are changed from the outside and only between innings.

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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.

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Crazy Credits

Footage of the "rolling rally" victory parade is shown at the end.

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Alternate Versions

The DVD editon of the film dubbed the "Cursed Reversed Edition for Boston Red Sox fans" by Fox contains the alternate ending of the film that was actually shot during the 2004 playoffs and World Series. In the original ending of the film scripted by Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel, "The Curse of the Bambino" dubbed by die hard Red Sox fans would have continued "if" the Yankees had beaten them in the playoffs. The Red Sox, who were down by three games, had come back and beaten the Yankees which was the first time a pro-sports team had ever come back from such a defeat and eventually won the World Series, sweeping the St.Louis Cardinals. The moment that it had happened, Drew Barrymore and Jimmy Fallon in character, ran onto the field and celebrated with the team. This ending was edited in the film as a montage with narration by actor Jack Kehler.

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Connections

Referenced in Nostalgia Critic: Osmosis Jones (2015)

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Soundtracks

Ode to Mama
Written by Bill Ryan and Brendan Ryan
Performed by The Ryan Brothers (as The Ryan Bros.)

User Reviews

Sweet and Charming Date Movie

"Fever Pitch" is a sweet and charming addition to the small genre of sports romances as date movies or movies a son could be willing to go to with his mother (though the guys in the audience got noticeably restless during the romantic scenes).

I have lived through a milder version of such a story, as my first exposure to baseball was dating my husband the spring after the Mets first World Series win and then I watched the Mets clinch their next one because I was the one still up in the wee hours with our two little sons, who have grown up to teach me more about baseball through our local neighborhood National League team's other heartbreaking failures to win it again (and it was me who took our older son to his only Fenway Park game as I caught a bit of Red Sox fever as a graduate student in Boston).

So compared to reality, the script believably creates two people with actual jobs. It is particularly impressive that Drew Barrymore's character is a substantive workaholic who has anti-Barbie skills, though she pretty much only visits with her three bland girlfriends during gym workouts that allow for much jiggling and the minor side stories with her parents don't completely work.

It is even set up credibly how she meets Jimmy Fallon's math teacher and how she falls for his "winter guy" -- though it's surprising that his Red Sox paraphernalia filled apartment didn't tip her off to his Jekyll-and-Hyde "summer guy." Their relationship crisis during the baseball season is also played out in a refreshingly grown-up way, from efforts at compromise to her frank challenges to him, centered around that they are both facing thirty and single. Fallon surprisingly rises to his character's gradual emotional maturity.

While the ending borrows heavily from O. Henry, the script writers did a yeoman job of quickly incorporating the Sox's incredible 2004 season into a revised story line (with lots of cooperation from the Red Sox organization for filming at the stadium).

The script goes out of its way to explain why Fallon doesn't have a Boston accent, as an immigrant from New Jersey, but that doesn't explain why his motley friends don't. The most authentic sounding Boston sounds come from most of his "summer family" of other season ticket holders, who kindly kibitz the basics of Sox lore to neophyte Barrymore (and any such audience members).

The song selection includes many Red Sox fans' favorites, from the opening notes of the classic "Dirty Water," though most are held to be heard over the closing credits as if you are listening to local radio and are worth sitting through to hear.