Tuesday, May 03, 2005
NOT ENOUGH COWBELL FOR THIS FEVER
Saw Fever Pitch last night in Evanston. Ms. Vivian C. Wong was in attendance with me. Actually, it was her idea to go to the movie. The Vivster had just finished a mid-term at Northwestern and felt like a bit of unchallenging entertainment.
I can't say that Fever Pitch was entertaining, but it wasn't terrible either. By now, most of you probably know the plot: Jimmy Fallon plays, Ben, a Boston elementary school teacher who is OBSESSED with the Red Sox. We learn that his obsession began traumatically at an early age and has continued on into adulthood; indeed, his apartment looks like a demented ten year old boy's shrine to the Sawcks. Ben meets Lindsey (Drew Barrymore), when he takes some of his students to her company's office for...well, for some vague reason. He then asks her out, but she turns him down. Lindsey has a change of heart when she realizes that she rejected Ben solely because of his job and not because of Fallon's creepy awkwardness.
This sets up the strangest first date I've seen in a movie in a long time. Ben shows up at Lindsey's place only to find that she's very sick. Not just a little bit sick, mind you, but puking her guts up sick. We know this because we're treated to several shots of Barrymore with her head over the bowl. Nice! Ben decides to take care of her that night, as opposed to abandoning her, I guess, and as he's such a swell guy, Lindsey decides to date him.
So, she's a high-powered corporate type who's obsessed with her career and he's a school teacher obsessed with the Red Sox. Do they have a snowball's chance in hell of making it? You betcha, kids.
The rest of Ben and Lindsey's burgeoning relationship plays out across the backdrop of the baseball season. Things are fine at first, actually downright sweet when Ben invites Lindesy to Opening Day, but gradually worsen as the depths of Ben's obsession are revealed. He insists that Lindsey go to more and more games, blows off important events that she wants him to attend, and, in one darkly comic scene, celebrates snagging a foul ball at the game, while failing to notice that the only reason he was able to make the catch was that the ball bounced off Lindsey's head, knocking her unconscious. Their relationship reaches a crisis point at the same point that the Red Sox's season reaches a crisis point, but everything works itself out, though not before Ben's friends have to do a sort of intervention on him, he proclaims his love to Lindsey, and there's a big reconciliation at Fenway.
Okay, on to my always complex and nuanced film analysis:
Things I Didn't Like about Fever Pitch:
1. The grubby, murky cinematography. I don't how they manged to make Boston in the summer look like Columbus, Ohio in the middle of winter, but they did. Barrymore also looked like she was capable of puking at any time in the movie, not just that one scene. Bad lighting. I think they got Kevin Smith's cinematographer.
2. Fallon/Barrymore's lack of chemistry. It got better as the movie went on, but their first intereactions were hard to watch. Barrymore was really acting like Fallon was a creepy guy on a blind date. Fallon was just really awakward. He got better as his character turned into more of a jerk, but that kinds of makes you wonder.
3. Ben and Lindsey's "friends." Ben's friends were complete cyphers, no character development, no nothin'. Lindsey's friends were developed in more detail, but only to offer misogynistically-conceived cliches: there was souless career-driven friend, office flunky friend, non-threateningly pretty friend, and dopey, makes-you-feel-better-about-yourself, fat friend.
Things I Liked About Fever Pitch:
1. Ben's fellow Sawcks Fans at Fenway. Not great, but a solid bunch of Masshole-types. I enjoyed the weird, bespectacled guy who offered everyone a sponge and the two or three brassy broads that came the closest of anyone in the film to having a Boston accent.
2. Some general Farrelly brothers goofiness. Ben's friends decide to throw him in the shower during their intervention after his initial breakup with Lindsey. This leads to Ben saying to one of his friends: "Why are you shaving my ball?" Friend: "Relax. I'm a doctor." I also enjoyed the scene where Barrymore got hit in the head at Fenway. Nicely devious.
3. The big sappy ending. [Spoiler. Don't keep reading, if you haven't seen the movie. But don't you think you're kidding yourself? You know how this kind of movie ends, don't you?] I know it was so cliched, but I really liked Barrymore buying scalped tickets for a Fenway playoff game and running onto the field to find Ben. It was just fun to watch Barrymore run around while security guards bumped into each other trying to catch her. Probably the funniest line in Fever Pitch came when she finally made it to Fallon and he asked her, "How did the grass feel? Was it spongy?"
So, not a very good movie, but not a terrible one either. On the positive side, it's inspired me to write a longer piece on the films of the Farrelly brothers. Stay tuned. ¶ 12:58 PM
I can't say that Fever Pitch was entertaining, but it wasn't terrible either. By now, most of you probably know the plot: Jimmy Fallon plays, Ben, a Boston elementary school teacher who is OBSESSED with the Red Sox. We learn that his obsession began traumatically at an early age and has continued on into adulthood; indeed, his apartment looks like a demented ten year old boy's shrine to the Sawcks. Ben meets Lindsey (Drew Barrymore), when he takes some of his students to her company's office for...well, for some vague reason. He then asks her out, but she turns him down. Lindsey has a change of heart when she realizes that she rejected Ben solely because of his job and not because of Fallon's creepy awkwardness.
This sets up the strangest first date I've seen in a movie in a long time. Ben shows up at Lindsey's place only to find that she's very sick. Not just a little bit sick, mind you, but puking her guts up sick. We know this because we're treated to several shots of Barrymore with her head over the bowl. Nice! Ben decides to take care of her that night, as opposed to abandoning her, I guess, and as he's such a swell guy, Lindsey decides to date him.
So, she's a high-powered corporate type who's obsessed with her career and he's a school teacher obsessed with the Red Sox. Do they have a snowball's chance in hell of making it? You betcha, kids.
The rest of Ben and Lindsey's burgeoning relationship plays out across the backdrop of the baseball season. Things are fine at first, actually downright sweet when Ben invites Lindesy to Opening Day, but gradually worsen as the depths of Ben's obsession are revealed. He insists that Lindsey go to more and more games, blows off important events that she wants him to attend, and, in one darkly comic scene, celebrates snagging a foul ball at the game, while failing to notice that the only reason he was able to make the catch was that the ball bounced off Lindsey's head, knocking her unconscious. Their relationship reaches a crisis point at the same point that the Red Sox's season reaches a crisis point, but everything works itself out, though not before Ben's friends have to do a sort of intervention on him, he proclaims his love to Lindsey, and there's a big reconciliation at Fenway.
Okay, on to my always complex and nuanced film analysis:
Things I Didn't Like about Fever Pitch:
1. The grubby, murky cinematography. I don't how they manged to make Boston in the summer look like Columbus, Ohio in the middle of winter, but they did. Barrymore also looked like she was capable of puking at any time in the movie, not just that one scene. Bad lighting. I think they got Kevin Smith's cinematographer.
2. Fallon/Barrymore's lack of chemistry. It got better as the movie went on, but their first intereactions were hard to watch. Barrymore was really acting like Fallon was a creepy guy on a blind date. Fallon was just really awakward. He got better as his character turned into more of a jerk, but that kinds of makes you wonder.
3. Ben and Lindsey's "friends." Ben's friends were complete cyphers, no character development, no nothin'. Lindsey's friends were developed in more detail, but only to offer misogynistically-conceived cliches: there was souless career-driven friend, office flunky friend, non-threateningly pretty friend, and dopey, makes-you-feel-better-about-yourself, fat friend.
Things I Liked About Fever Pitch:
1. Ben's fellow Sawcks Fans at Fenway. Not great, but a solid bunch of Masshole-types. I enjoyed the weird, bespectacled guy who offered everyone a sponge and the two or three brassy broads that came the closest of anyone in the film to having a Boston accent.
2. Some general Farrelly brothers goofiness. Ben's friends decide to throw him in the shower during their intervention after his initial breakup with Lindsey. This leads to Ben saying to one of his friends: "Why are you shaving my ball?" Friend: "Relax. I'm a doctor." I also enjoyed the scene where Barrymore got hit in the head at Fenway. Nicely devious.
3. The big sappy ending. [Spoiler. Don't keep reading, if you haven't seen the movie. But don't you think you're kidding yourself? You know how this kind of movie ends, don't you?] I know it was so cliched, but I really liked Barrymore buying scalped tickets for a Fenway playoff game and running onto the field to find Ben. It was just fun to watch Barrymore run around while security guards bumped into each other trying to catch her. Probably the funniest line in Fever Pitch came when she finally made it to Fallon and he asked her, "How did the grass feel? Was it spongy?"
So, not a very good movie, but not a terrible one either. On the positive side, it's inspired me to write a longer piece on the films of the Farrelly brothers. Stay tuned. ¶ 12:58 PM
