Fever Pitch
From SoSH
Fever Pitch is a 2005 film directed by the Farrelly Brothers and based on a book by Nick Hornby. The original book was about the author's obsession with Arsenal FC, an association football (soccer in America) team in the English Premier League that the Farrelly Brothers apparently saw as a vague analogue of the Boston Red Sox.
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Tagline
A Red Sox fanatic is forced to choose between love and baseball. (Any movie involving the 2004 Red Sox is worth watching.)
Plot Summary
Fever Pitch is a romantic comedy with a formulaic plot and a predictably happy ending. The acting is mediocre, and the film essentially serves as a passable date movie. However, Boston-area moviegoers came out in droves to see this movie, partly to see snippets of the 2004 Boston Red Sox (including cameo appearances by Johnny Damon, Trot Nixon, and Jason Varitek). In the process, they were treated to a whimsical view of the long-suffering Red Sox fan (Ben), played by Jimmy Fallon. While the movie itself was nothing special, views of Ben's apartment (with its wall-to-wall Red Sox decorations, including Yankee toilet paper) and conversations in which he attempts to explain his rituals had my friends rolling on the floor in laughter while they pointed at me.
This movie is worth watching for its funny lines and moments, though the plot and the acting certainly won't win any awards. Enjoy the movie, but don't expect greatness.
Cast
- Jimmy Fallon .... Ben Wrightman
- Drew Barrymore .... Lindsey Meeks
- Jason Spevak .... Ben in 1980
- Jack Kehler .... Al
- Scott Severance .... Artie
- Jessamy Finet .... Theresa
- Maureen Keiller .... Viv
- Lenny Clarke .... Uncle Carl
- Ione Skye .... Molly
- KaDee Strickland .... Robin
- Marissa Janet Winokur .... Sarah
- Evan Helmuth .... Troy
- Brandon Craggs .... Casey
- Brett Murphy .... Ryan
- Isabella Fink .... Audrey
Quotes
- Steve Levy: Where do the Sox rank in terms of importance in your life?
Ben: I'd say the Red Sox... sex... and breathing.
- Lindsey: You don't see us tangled up in the sheets with the Eiffel Tower in the background. You see the Mariners are coming in, and Pedro's pitching Friday.
Ben: No, on Saturday. Schilling's Friday.
Trivia
- Kevin Millar's favorite movie.
- The original script called for the Red Sox to make it to the World Series and lose. As real life intervened and the Red Sox went through the playoffs, the ending was changed, and was ultimately filmed in Game 4 when the Red Sox won the 2004 World Series.
- Ben has a gigantic replica of Fenway Park's left field wall (a.k.a. "The Green Monster") on the wall of his apartment. In real life and in his apartment, the wall includes a hand-operated scoreboard. The particular game immortalized on Ben's mural is that of Game 3 of the 1999 American League Championship Series, won by the Red Sox over the N.Y. Yankees, 13-1. Before Boston's conquest of New York in 2004 (depicted at the end of the film), the '99 game was one of the most memorable Boston wins in recent memory.
External Links
Fever Pitch -at the Internet Movie Database
