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As a proud member of Red Sox Nation who will admit to shedding an actual tear or two when the Red Sox won the World Series in 2004 (okay…I’m even getting a little choked up now, just thinking about it), I’ll admit that it didn’t take much to get me out to see Fever Pitch. In fact, I’m pretty sure it could have starred Hillary Duff and Ben Affleck, and I would have seen it anyway. But I actually enjoyed more than just the baseball footage…
Drew Barrymore stars as Lindsey Meeks, a dedicated businesswoman who’s perpetually single and headed toward The Big 20-10 (AKA The Big 3-0). One day, she meets an average-guy schoolteacher, Ben (Jimmy Fallon), who asks her out and is immediately shot down.
Convinced by her friends that a normal guy with a normal life and a normal job might be just what she needs, Lindsey reconsiders and decides to give Ben a chance. What follows is a whirlwind fairy-tale romance that seems too good to be true. Then, one day, as the snow starts to thaw on the Boston Common, Ben makes a confession: he’s a Red Sox fan. If you’ve ever lived in Boston, you’ll understand what this means—though Lindsey seems to be somewhat oblivious. Since his first visit to Fenway Pahk as a kid, Ben has adored the Red Sox—and he’s since inherited his uncle’s season tickets.
As Lindsey discovers the extent of Ben’s love of the Sox, she tries to live with it—allowing Ben time with his “summer family” at Fenway while she works overtime to get a promotion at work—but she starts to realize that the Red Sox are more than just a baseball team to Ben. They’re her biggest competition.
Thanks to the Red-Sox-heavy content of this movie, it’s a must-own for anyone who believes that an old, dirty Red Sox hat is perfectly acceptable home décor—or who has willingly stayed inside on a gorgeous, sunny Sunday afternoon, so as not to miss the Sox/Yankees game. But is it good enough for the non-Sox-fan viewer? Perhaps not if you’re a Yankees fan (which, if you are, is unfortunate). But Fever Pitch (which was loosely based on a Nick Hornby novel about what we in the States call soccer) is a cute chick flick for the rest of you. The story may not be flawless or without its chick-flick sap, but Fallon is perfect for the role—and he and Barrymore work especially well together.
I wasn’t the only one in the theater laughing to the point of tears. The people around me laughed just as hard as I did—and, considering I now live in a place where people are usually either Reds fans or Indians fans, I think I can safely assume that you don’t have to own a special edition World Series Johnny Damon T-shirt to enjoy Fever Pitch. Those who don’t get the Red Sox thing will think Ben and his friends are hilarious—and those who do get it will think it’s funny ‘cuz it’s true.
