Fever Pitch (2005 film)
Fever Pitch | |
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Directed by | |
Screenplay by | |
Based on | Fever Pitch by Nick Hornby |
Produced by |
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Starring |
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Cinematography | 20th Century Fox |
Release dates |
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Running time | 104 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $30 million[1] |
Box office | $50.6 million[1] |
Fever Pitch (released as The Perfect Catch outside North America) is a 2005 American
While both the book and the original 1997 film are about
The film was released on April 8, 2005, in the United States, with
Plot
In 1980, seven-year-old Benjamin "Ben" Wrightman has just moved to Boston with his mother after his parents' divorce. His uncle Carl takes him to a Boston Red Sox game at Fenway Park to cheer him up. From that day on, he is a die-hard Red Sox fan for life.
Twenty-three years later, the adult Ben is still in Boston, working as a school teacher, and has inherited his uncle's season tickets since his death from cancer. Almost all of his possessions bear the Red Sox logo (except for his toilet paper, which is of the New York Yankees). On a school trip, Ben meets Lindsey Meeks, a successful, dedicated corporate executive, and they begin dating.
Lindsey, who knows little about baseball or the Red Sox, learns about the
Things get worse when Lindsey invites Ben to accompany her to Paris, and he declines because the Red Sox are in the heat of the pennant race. Before leaving, she tells Ben she might be pregnant. She expresses concern that he is more committed to the Red Sox than to her, and days later calls him and confirms she isn't pregnant.
To prove he is not obsessed, Ben misses a game against the Yankees to escort Lindsey to her friend's birthday party. Ben and Lindsey enjoy the party, and after making love, he tells her it was one of the best nights of his life. Moments later, he gets an ecstatic call from his friend Troy, who tells him the Sox overcame a seven-run deficit in the bottom of the ninth to pull off one of the greatest comebacks in team history. Ben becomes irate that he missed such a historic Red Sox moment, blaming Lindsey for making him miss the game. She is heartbroken, and they separate.
Ben soon misses Lindsey and visits her in a futile attempt to reconcile. To prove she means more to him than the Red Sox, he plans to sell his season tickets. Lindsey finds out during the celebration for her much-anticipated promotion and rushes to stop him. She buys a scalped outfield ticket and, during the 9th inning of the Red Sox–Yankees playoff game when the Red Sox are just three outs away from being swept and Ben is in the stands about to finalize the ticket sale, Lindsey drops over the outfield wall and runs across the field and around players to avoid security. She tears up the contract and tells Ben that if he loves her enough to sell his seats, then she loves him enough not to let him to do it. They reunite and kiss in front of the entire crowd before Lindsey is arrested.
Al narrates the epilogue: the Red Sox won that game and then beat the Yankees three more times to win the
Cast
- Jimmy Fallon as Benjamin "Ben" Wrightman
- Jason Spevack as 7-year-old Benjamin "Ben" Wrightman in 1980
- Drew Barrymore as Lindsey Meeks
- James B. Sikking as Doug Meeks
- JoBeth Williams as Maureen Meeks
- Jack Kehler as Al Waterman (also the narrator)
- Scott H. Severance as Artie
- Lenny Clarke as Uncle Carl
- Ione Skye as Molly
- Siobhan Fallon Hogan as Lana
- KaDee Strickland as Robin
- Marissa Jaret Winokur as Sarah
- Evan Helmuth as Troy
- Zen Gesner as Steve
- Jackie Burroughs as Mrs. Warren
- Stephen King as himself
- Kris Williamsas herself
- Steve Levy as himself
- Willie Garson as Kevin
- Armando Riesco as Gerard
- Brett Murphy as Ryan
- Andrew Wilson as Grant Wade / Patrick Lyons
Several Boston Red Sox personnel make appearances in the film, including: players Johnny Damon, Trot Nixon, Jason Varitek and Jim Rice, and announcers Joe Castiglione, Don Orsillo and Dennis Eckersley.
Production
The original plot had assumed the
Originally, Shawn Levy, who was a huge fan of Nick Hornby's works for years, was attached to direct, with Gwyneth Paltrow playing Lindsey.[4] However, Paltrow found the script mediocre and turned down the role.[5] Brian Robbins replaced Levy, but he quit the project as well.[6] After Drew Barrymore replaced Paltrow and Jimmy Fallon joined the cast, Jay Russell,[7] P. J. Hogan,[8] Luke Greenfield,[9] and Mira Nair were all rumored candidates to direct until the studios hired the Farrelly brothers to take the helm for the film.
Reception
Critical response
On
From a cinematographic and literary perspective, the film received some favorable criticism from experts Roger Ebert[13] and James Berardinelli.[14]
Box office
The film opened at #3 and grossed $12.4 million in its opening weekend. The final North American gross of the film was $42.1 million, and the worldwide gross was $50.5 million.[1]
Soundtrack
Fever Pitch: Music from the Motion Picture | |
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Soundtrack album by Various Artists | |
Released | April 26, 2005 |
Length | 54:23[15] |
Label | BulletProof Music/Rykodisc |
- The Standells – "Dirty Water"
- Dropkick Murphys – "Tessie"
- Tears for Fears – "Who Killed Tangerine?"
- Popium – "Sooner or Later"
- Ivy – "Thinking About You"
- Nick Drake – "Northern Sky"
- Marah – "My Heart Is the Bums on the Street"
- Steve Wynn – "Second Best"
- The J. Geils Band – "Whammer Jammer" (Live Version)[16]
- The Human League – "(Keep Feeling) Fascination"
- Chic – "Dance, Dance, Dance (Yowsah, Yowsah, Yowsah)"
- Joe Pernice – "Moonshot Manny"
- Jonathan Richman – "As We Walk to Fenway Park in Boston Town"
- Mad Larry – "Window Pane"
- Oh, Babe, What Would You Say?"
See also
References
- ^ Internet Movie Database. Retrieved August 28, 2010.
- ^ Pastorek, Whitney (November 12, 2004). "Sox Change". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on July 3, 2011. Retrieved October 9, 2011.
- Boston Globe. Retrieved April 13, 2022.
- ^ Leith, Sam (August 24, 2002). "Can Hornby remake bring fever pitch to baseball?". The Telegraph. Retrieved April 13, 2022.
- ^ "Gwyneth Paltrow". NotStarring.com. Retrieved April 13, 2022.
- ^ Brodesser, Claude (May 13, 2003). "Robbins catches 'Pitch' from Fox 2000". Variety. Retrieved April 13, 2022.
- ^ Potter, Benjamin (Summer 2002). "The Right Direction". Memphis Magazine. Archived from the original on May 31, 2010. Retrieved April 13, 2022.
- ^ Clint (March 1, 2004). "Hogan and Barrymore up for Fever Pitch". MovieHole.net. Archived from the original on August 22, 2016. Retrieved August 24, 2014.
- ^ "Fever Pitch Miscellaneous Notes". TCM. Archived from the original on August 26, 2014. Retrieved August 24, 2014.
- ^ "Fever Pitch (2005)". Rotten Tomatoes. Flixster. Retrieved February 1, 2021.
- CBS Interactive. Retrieved August 28, 2010.
- ^ "CinemaScore". cinemascore.com. Archived from the original on December 20, 2018.
- ^ Ebert, Roger (April 8, 2005). "Fever Pitch by Roger Ebert". RogerEbert.com. Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved April 14, 2008.
- ^ Berardinelli, James (2005). "Fever Pitch - A Film Review by James Berardinelli". ReelViews.com. Retrieved April 14, 2008.
- ^ "Fever Pitch: Music from the Motion Picture". AllMusic. Retrieved May 22, 2013.
- ^ "Fever Pitch (2005) – Soundtracks – IMDb". IMDb.
Bibliography
- Fever Pitch. Baseball Movie Guide. Archived from the original on January 11, 2008.
External links
- Fever Pitch at IMDb
- Fever Pitch at AllMovie
- Fever Pitch at Box Office Mojo
- Fever Pitch at Rotten Tomatoes