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Fever Pitch (2005)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:169
Fresh:107
Rotten:62
Average Rating:6.2/10
Consensus: While not a home run, Fever Pitch has enough charm and on-screen chemistry between the two leads to make it a solid hit.
Runtime: 1 hr 43 mins
Genre: Romance,
Synopsis: The Farrelly Brothers (THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT MARY, DUMB & DUMBER) take a slight departure from their signature breed of over-the-top, gross-out humor and opt instead for sensitive restraint with... The Farrelly Brothers (THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT MARY, DUMB & DUMBER) take a slight departure from their signature breed of over-the-top, gross-out humor and opt instead for sensitive restraint with this genuinely sweet love story. Credit is due in part to the writing team of Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel (SPANGLISH) who adapt Nick Hornby's popular British novel, moving it to Boston and exchanging the protagonist's obsession with soccer for an all-consuming love of baseball. Ever since his first childhood visit to Fenway Park, easygoing schoolteacher Ben (Jimmy Fallon) has been in love with the Boston Red Sox. When he meets a successful workaholic named Lindsey Meeks (Drew Barrymore), he warns her that being such an avid fan has been a problem in his past relationships. On the brink of turning 30, Lindsey is eager to make what seems like an otherwise promising romance work, and she agrees to go with Ben to opening day (of the eventful 2004 season when the Red Sox won the World Series for the first time in 86 years). As baseball season proceeds, the truly obsessive nature of Ben's hobby is revealed, and a love triangle is set up in which baseball plays the role of the other woman. Lindsey's feelings for Ben are put to the test again and again as his love for the game threatens to outweigh his feelings for her. While the film's structure is pretty typical of a romantic comedy, FEVER PITCH offers quirky characters that ring true. Fallon and Barrymore display a genuine chemistry and Fallon proves (after leaving SNL) that he can pull off the romantic lead. With the exception of Yankee fans, FEVER PITCH should appeal to anyone who has ever really loved another person (or a pastime). [More]
Starring: Drew Barrymore, Jimmy Fallon, Lenny Clarke, Jack Kehler
Starring: Drew Barrymore, Jimmy Fallon, Lenny Clarke, Jack Kehler, James B. Sikking, Ione Skye
Director: Peter Farrelly, Bobby Farrelly
Director: Peter Farrelly, Bobby Farrelly
Screenwriter: Lowell Ganz, Babaloo Mandel
Producer: Alan Greenspan, Gil Netter, Drew Barrymore, Nancy Juvonen, Bradley Thomas, David Zucker
Composer: Craig Armstrong
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Reviews for Fever Pitch
Sweet, charming and never less than watchable, thanks to Drew Barrymore’s winning performance.
A likeable cast and a breezy tone make the film watchable, even if the plot has been badly stretched and simplified.
A sweet, faux pas-free, Red Sox-adoring love story based on Nick Hornby's memoir of the same name.
Peter and Bobby Farrelly’s direction is more restrained and more effective than in their trademark wacky films
Charming and entertaining thanks to a surprisingly endearing performance by Jimmy Fallon.
at its best when it offers brief, boisterous glimpses into the strange relationship between fan and team
Drew Barrymore and Jimmy Fallon make an appealing on-screen couple in this insightful romantic comedy.
It carries with it the full courage of its heart-on-its-sleeve convictions, and that’s easy to respond to.
One of those nicely grooved pitches with which even a novice ought to be able to connect.
Pitch is a sweet concoction, a valentine to the Red Sox, and a genial romantic comedy. It may not hit a home run, but it has some good hustle to it.
It's a prettified view of love, for sure, but as Sox fans would surely attest, sometimes fairy tale dreams do come true.
There is a solid romance at its core, one in which we root for the lovers to find a way to stay together because they are so fresh and funny and because the problems they cope with feel real.
The Farrelly brothers soften their customary inclination toward gross-out humor with a tender and earnest adaptation of a novel by Nick Hornby ("High Fidelity").
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