Red Sox Fever - catch it

I went to see the movie Fever Pitch, starring Drew Barrymore and Jimmy Fallon, over the weekend. It's a serviceable romantic comedy - some good laughs and the lead characters are appealing. I like Drew, but she's still got that little-girl lisp thing going on (like she had in ET, when she was about six years old) that is cute at the same time that it makes it a little tough to picture her as a brainy mathmetician. Maybe I'm just an insensitive boor who is stereotyping her. Anyway . . . .

As most people reading this blog are likely to know, Fever Pitch follows the romance between Barrymore, a workaholic bucking for a promotion, and Fallon, a high-school math teacher who is a Red Sox fanatic with season tickets behind the first base dugout. Predictably, it's difficult to maintain momentum in a relationship when one person is committed to the one unwavering relationship he has always had - the Boston Red Sox. Ultimately, Jimmy Fallon does the right thing and the two lovebirds stay together in the end, and there are a couple of amusing turns along the way. It's nice that Ione Skye is back in a mainstream film - her career has, shall we say, been a little bumpy since Say Anything all those years ago. The only cast member that I really found objectionable was Jessamy Finet, who was about as annoying as anybody in the movie "Still We Believe". My objections were more with her role in the previous movie, however, because she was fine in this one.

I'm inclined to say that this movie is required viewing for Red Sox fans. There is a lot of Fenway in the movie, there are cameos from Sox players (Damon, Varitek and Nixon - the biggest upset of the year was the fact that Millar didn't have a role in this film!) and it's gratifying to see people who are more obsessed than you (the viewer) are. Also, it relieves the 2004 season, and you really can't get enough of that as a Sox fan. And even non-Sox fans might enjoy the show, as it gives good fodder for making fun of any sports fanatic. The movie is based on the book by Nick Hornby, author of High Fidelity and About a Boy, as well as a fun little collection of essays called Songbook (which was published in the UK under the title 31 Songs), though thankfully it's been changed from the original, which dealt with soccer fanatacism. So, go see it for a little light entertainment.