Fever Pitch

"Student Printz". Because I occasionally feel lazy, and it seems a shame that all of five people ever read these, I've decided to repost them here, in the original versions that I emailed to my editor, Noel, all those years ago. 
With the baseball season getting ready to move into full swing, it’s no surprise that we would see a movie release tied to the sport. The usual style of the underdog baseball story is nearly tired out by this point, after years of movies like “Major League: Back to the Minors”. “Fever Pitch” offers a slightly different perspective on the genre, incorporating more of a romantic comedy feel with less-than-spectacular results, especially against this month’s James Bond/Indiana Jones hybrid, “Sahara”. Romantic comedies typically perform poorly when up against big budget action movies, but not being very good doesn’t help its case at all.

“Fever Pitch” follows the story of Ben (Jimmy Fallon), a high school geometry teacher who meets Lindsey (Drew Barrymore) while she is giving a tour of her accounting firm to several of his students. The two immediately hit it off, until March rolls around and Lindsey discovers Ben’s ultimate flaw: he’s a Boston Red Sox fan. Ben’s entire apartment has in every square inch decorated with Red Sox memorabilia, and he even has season tickets next to the dugout that he inherited from his uncle. Though Lindsey likes Ben, his obsession with the Sox brings friction to their relationship that puts her job in jeopardy, injures her, and ultimately leaves Lindsey wondering if loving a man this obsessed is even possible.

Based on the autobiography by Nick Hornby of the same title, the love story also coincides with the 2004 season that nabbed the Sox their first pennant in nearly a century. The plot is pieced together such that the state of the Ben/Lindsey relationship is reflective of how well the Sox are doing, and of course realizations about the nature of the sports team and its players give the characters stuff to relate to their own life with. 

This also marks the most recent work by the Farrelly brothers, since last year’s easily forgettable comedy, “Stuck on You”. Usually this would mean that the movie should be very funny, but their recent work is far less entertaining than their earlier work. “Fever Pitch’s” entire comic fuel is centered on Jimmy Fallon, and even then the movie can achieve little more than a few chuckles. They haven’t really tried their hand at the typical romantic comedy yet, and it shows, as their best work is in conveying the wonder of America’s favorite pastime.

Drew Barrymore’s presence is becoming routine for April romantic comedies, after movies like “50 First Dates” and “The Wedding Singer”, but her veteran knowledge of how to make romantic comedies entertaining is lost here. Her earlier work had her teaming up with Adam Sandler, but fellow Saturday Night Live alumnus Jimmy Fallon does not have the chemistry with Barrymore that was required to land this film safely into “good” territory. On a positive note, this is Fallon’s best on-screen work yet, especially after “Taxi”, as he steals all the funny moments and is usually the only thing keeping the movie from faltering and collapsing mid-plot.

“Fever Pitch” may come off as a baseball movie, but its real message is about how men and women are on different emotional wavelengths. The problem is, “Hitch” did roughly the same thing two months ago, and “Fever Pitch” doesn’t have the humor, chemistry, or sufficient pacing to keep the movie enjoyable. But “Fever Pitch” does have a more down-to-earth feel that, though probably not a conscious decision by the directors, complements the spirit of baseball rather well.