Fever Pitch (2005) by the Farrelly Brothers
starring Drew Barrymore and Jimmy Fallon
In a nutshell: There's a reason why Jimmy Fallon hasn't been given any more lead roles 
Quick synopsis: The only obstacle to a relationship between a businesswoman and a teacher is his obsession with the Red Sox
Content:
Every formulaic romantic comedy has a gimmick these days. In Little Black Book, it was Carly Simon. In 27 Dresses, it was bridesmaid dresses. And in Fever Pitch, it is my beloved Red Sox. Seeing my Red Sox reduced to this type of gimmick was painful. I really expected more from the Farrelly Brothers, native New Englanders who actually have a reasonable amount of street cred in the Boston sports community thanks to cameos by the likes of Cam Neely and Troy Brown in their films. (Despite his complete lack of acting ability, I will never forget Neely as Sea Bass in Dumb & Dumber). If they had wanted to create a movie that would find a home on the shelves of Sox fans everywhere for decades to come, they should have made a movie that was a love letter to the Red Sox with a romance integrated in. Instead, they did it backwards. They made an incredibly generic romantic comedy and forced the Red Sox into it as the plot device that moves the story forward. But it could have been any type of obsession in their place which is why I really didn't connect at all.
My feelings can be summed up in one scene. Drew accompanies Jimmy to opening day and promptly proceeds to ask the nearby painfully motley crew of fans what the curse of the Bambino is. What happens next turned me off quicker than Nicole Ritchie would. The fans take turns recounting each of the horror stories that befell the Sox through the years (until '04 of course). As soon as one finishes their turn, another jumps annoyingly to take their turn. It almost felt like these people had rehearsed their parts in the tale. Even worse, they do not speak in enough detail for the non-fan to have any clue what they are talking about, but they manage to alienate Sox fans as well, making them feel like they are being patronized. Personally I felt like the filmmakers were just trying to prove themselves to the fans by listing off the history as if they are shouting "Look! we really are big fans! We swear! See? We know about Dent and Buckner and Little..." It drove me nuts. In fact, the way I felt about this scene is representative of my feelings on the movie as a whole: Too esoteric for non-fans, but trying too hard to appeal to actual Sox fans.
On top of the formulaicness (word?) and the annoying script, I also disliked Drew and Jimmy. Jimmy is just a little too awkward to be a leading man. He tries to be funny with his voices and his playfulness, but he isn't. Some of his jokes fall painfully short of their marks. I guess it's no different than his SNL stint. Drew, meanwhile, is doing her schtick that has endeared her to fans for years, talking out the side of her mouth (although I actually liked when Jimmy made fun of her for it) and being a strong woman with a career. Sorry, Drew, but I didn't buy you as a successful businesswoman and I don't care for your entire act as the loveable, modest, and cute-to-a-fault leading lady, although I do have to admit it is well suited to crappy romantic comedies. And I'm not attracted to her whatsoever.
At times, the movie took me for a ride through Hollywood romance cliche hell. The group of Drew's friends were the worst. All stereotyped beyond belief, they meet at the gym and discuss guy things as they work out. Whatever.
Last thing that genuinely pissed me off was the product placement. The idea behind product placement is NOT to make it obvious. But in addition to about 348 Macs appearing throughout the movie, there is one of the most blatant plugs I can remember in a movie. When the kids are touring her office at the beginning of the film, she says something like "oh, here's an example of a project I am working on" as we cut to a shot of her computer screen with a nice, big Marquis Jet logo. They don't even make an effort to work it into the story, they just kind of cut to it in the middle of a scene. Almost felt like a commercial break.
Well, I did give the movie a mixed rating, so that must mean there was something good, right? I liked some of the supporting characters, like that gay guy from Sex and the City. I liked that Lenny Clarke was the uncle. I liked Jimmy's apartment, covered in interesting Sox stuff. I really liked the title cards, done in Red Sox font. The story is at least coherent (as opposed to my next review). And most importantly, I like the theme of coming to the realization that an obsession with something that cannot love you back can be a waste of time. I can relate to this theme, coming to a similar realization about sports. But that doesn't mean they are a complete waste of time either. you just have to find a happy medium, and I think I've reached that point in my own life. I have a feeling that this subject is tackled in a much more sophisticated and interesting manner in the source material, Nick Hornby's book of the same name, but is was done well enough to provoke some thought in the film.
It rubbed a lot of people (myself included) the wrong way, when Jimmy and Drew were in the middle of the actual celebration on the field, recording for the movie, as the Sox won it all in '04. But I think this was mostly only after everyone realized that the movie wasn't very good. If that momentous occasion had been integrated into a movie that seemed more about the Red Sox and less about using the Red Sox, then It could have been something very special.
The most honest moment in the movie? The closing credits which were played over a montage of the victory parade without Jimmy and Drew anywhere to be seen. Instead we watched real fans react to their heroes float by on the duck boats. Watching these thousands of people delirious with joy stirred up stronger emotions in me than any of the other crap strewn about in Fever Pitch.
