April 18, 2005

MOVIES: Fever Pitch (Peter & Bobby Farrelly, 2005)

Don't need to say much about this one, since it's been getting oodles of attention.

Fever Pitch is a charming romantic comedy about Ben (Jimmy Fallon), a man torn between the two great loves of his life, Lindsey (Drew Barrymore) and the Boston Red Sox.

When Ben and Lindsey meet (in a manner far more plausible and less annoying than the standard romantic-comedy "meet-cute"), it's late fall. Through the winter, their relationship grows, and Lindsey begins to think that Ben may be The One.

Then April arrives, and suddenly Ben becomes "Summer Guy," absolutely devoted to the Sox -- so devoted that he can't go to Paris for a romantic weekend because Seattle's coming to town, and Ben hasn't missed a home game in more than a decade.

The movie does a solid job of capturing the mindset of the obsessive fan, and Fallon is terrific here as a guy in the final stages of transition from boy to man. Barrymore is a little flatter than usual, I thought, but the two of them are an adorable couple.

Very entertaining.

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