| "Fever
Pitch"
Drew
Barrymore. Jimmy Fallon. Comedy.
Synopsis:
An obsessed Red Sox fan begins to cultivate a relationship with
a career-minded woman. It all falls apart during the 2004 pennant
race.
Review:
I wasn’t impressed. It didn’t work as either a sports
movie or a romantic comedy. Not that either would have struck a
chord with me anyway, but I expected so much more from this film.
Ben (Jimmy
Fallon) has been a Red Sox fan since he was 7, when his uncle took
him to a game. Ben and his mother were new in town, didn’t
know anyone, and Ben immediately found his ‘summer family’
at Fenway Park. When his uncle died, he left Ben his season tickets.
Lindsey
(Drew Barrymore) is a successful businesswoman who doesn’t
have time to find a man that can fit into her schedule. At first,
their relationship blossoms in the winter. When baseball season
rolls around, it looks as if it might continue to work, because
Lindsey needs to focus on her career - a big promotion is on the
line. She won’t feel jilted for the Red Sox.
That is
only until late in the season when she has to travel to Europe on
business. She gets a chance to take Ben to Paris for a weekend,
but he chooses to stay home to watch a series with the Seattle Mariners.
Everything
seemed so forced together in this film. In fact, a number of the
scenes seemed just like little Saturday Night Live sketches thrown
in for a laugh. This could have been because the directors, the
Farrelly brothers ( Dumb and Dumber ,Kingpin ,There’s Something
About Mary ), ventured so far out of their element. It didn’t
work for me.
I think
I was even more disappointed that a Nick Hornby novel could produce
so little to enjoy. Hornby penned High Fidelity and About a Boy
, both of which I thought worked extremely well. But I don’t
know what happened here - the UK soccer-obsession being traded in
for a US baseball-obsession couldn’t have been a factor.
If you’re
looking for a date movie, or you think Drew Barrymore is the most
adorable actress out there, then give this a shot. Otherwise, I
don’t think it’s worth $6.
OVERALL
GRADE: C-
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