Fever Pitch

Day 97 - 4/7/09 - Movie #95

BEFORE: Well, the Red Sox got rained out on Opening Day (April 6), so today is the REAL first day of baseball season. Yes, this is a Red Sox-themed movie, but it's really a relationship drama, with the Sox's 2004 championship season as a backdrop.

THE PLOT: When relaxed Ben Wrightman meets workaholic Lindsey Meeks she finds him sweet and charming, they hit it off - but when spring comes around, Lindsey discovers Ben's obsession with the Boston Red Sox.

AFTER: This was probably pitched to some marketing executive as a romance movie AND a sports movie - so theoretically it would have appeal for both men and women, a double audience! Too bad, guys - it's not that easy! But there's something more beneath the surface, in a very Mars/Venus kind of way - about a man's obsession, and how it can get in the way of having a relationship. Or, put another way, how a relationship can really mess up a guy's sports schedule...take it however you choose. This is the first time I've been able to tolerate Jimmy Fallon acting in anything, though. But it's too bad that most of the baseball action is either stock footage or takes place off-camera (SHOW, don't tell, guys...) But the real interesting thing is that the filmmakers set out to use a typical Red Sox losing season as a framework, and then had to change the ending when the Sox improbably won the whole enchilada. Extra points for capturing the magic of October 2004, and including authentic Boston music like "Whammer Jammer" by the J. Geils Band and the Standells' "Dirty Water".

RATING: A very biased 8 out of 10 (extra) innings