D.C. MOVIE GUYS

MOVIE REVIEW: “FEVER PITCH”

Ben (Jimmy Fallon) is a nice guy. A hard working physics teacher at a
Boston middle school who actually gets along with the kids and gets them to
understand the complex subject. He’s the kind of guy who, on a first date
with a woman he really likes, spends the night taking care of her when it
turns out she;s eaten the wrong thing at lunch and is sick as a dog when he
comes to pick her up, He’s kind, thoughful and funny, the kind of guy
who’ll do a stanger a favor without thinking twice about it, There’s just
one problem with this dream guy. He’s a baseball fan, A very passionate
fan. A Boston Red Sox fan. And, as the new romantic comedy “Fever Pitch”
makes clear, that sporting passion may cost him the love of his life.

Based on the 1997 British film of the same name, “Fever PPitch” follows the
course of Ben’s relationship with Lindsey (Drew Barrymore), a smart and
driven executive at a marketing firm. Through the fall and winter, their
relationship blossoms and grows deeper. Things seem perfect, until Ben
explains he has to pass on going with Lindsey to her family’s week of
birthday and anniversary events-because he and his friends have to attend a
week of Sox spring training. When the season opens, Lindsey attends the
opening day game, but finds it difficult to fit in with Ben’s
“summer family” of baseball fanatics. Can their love survive the stress of
the customay Red Sox late season swoon, as well as Lindsey’s push to get a
major promotion at work?

The brother directing team of Bobby and Peter Farrelly (”Dumb and Dumber”,
“There’s Something Abount Mary”) aren’t known for their subtly or grace.
But, working with a script written by Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel, of
City Slickers” and “Laverne and Shirley” fame, actually deliver a restrained

and touching little movie that entertains without the brother’s usual
excesses. They draw engaging performances from Fallon and Barrymore, the
kind that will have viewers believing the storyline, despite its flaws, and
rooting for things to work out. Fallon shows some real skill and
possibility of growth as an actor, something that could hardly be said after

seeing his work in last year’s “Taxi”.

Though Ganz and Mandell garener solid laughs and heartfelt emotion in
telling the story, the movie is unable to recreate the complexity of emotion

and passion for team that takes over one’s life that the original film
caputured. (By the way, that version’s available on video and stars Collin
Furth. It’s based on a novel by acclaimed British novelist Nick Hoirnby.)
Also, the Feway Park regulars seem a bit tame and a tad colorless, perhaps a

nod to the fact the Farrelly’s are from New England and didn’t want to draw
on any stereotypes. Happily, Fallon avoids utilizing the stereotypical
Boston accent he used on “Saturday Night Live”.

Still, despite its flaws (and the quirky twist offate that turned the Sox
into winners the same years a movie about their lovable loser stauus was
being filmed), “Fever Pitch” delivers plenty of laughs, real warmth a bit of

a twist on the plot in its final moments that makes it well worth seeing.

MPAA RATING: PG-13 for profanity and sexual situatiins
JOE’S RATING: THREE STARS.

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