THE PERFECT CATCH
(FEVER PITCH)

"Will you come to the opening game with me?"

When Lindsey (Barrymore) meets Ben (Fallon) a relationship forms over a romantic winter but as March comes around Ben reveals he has something to tell Lindsey about his life. Since he was seven years old he has had a passion for one thing that totally consumes his life during the summer months. That passion is the Boston Red Sox and he plans his entire life around the baseball season. At first Lindsey thinks this might be OK because she is pushing for a promotion at work and will have to put in more hours, so she can do this while Ben is at the game but as the season progresses and their relationship starts to grow, difficulties start to arise.

Nick Hornby's best selling novel gets its second big screen adaptation but can his book about a man obsessed with sport and how it affects his relationship translate for an American audience?

Replacing the beautiful game of football (soccer for our American friends) with baseball was probably the obvious choice for the film, especially when the Boston Red Sox had the same type of history for not winning the Championship/World Series as Arsenal Football Club had. The sports also have the same obsessive fan base and also the same difficulty getting in Fenway Park as it is getting into Highbury, so the translation could work and the good news is that is does.

Whether you are a football or a baseball fan, watching the sport you love can consume your life. You end up planning everything around the fixtures, sometimes at the expense of other things but this, to you is the most important thing. People who don't have this passion don't understand and see this as a major obstacle to friendship and relationships. The original novel by Nick Hornby was almost semi-autobiographical, becoming a bestseller and a bible to both sport fans and their better halves. The reason for its success is that is showed both sides of the problem and the difficulties they can raise.

When you realise that this film is the latest movie from gross-out comedy brothers Bobby and Peter Farrelly, you might start to expect something different but this is a totally different kind of comedy for them. To be fair, their shock value has diminished over the last few years (see 'Stuck on You' and 'Shallow Hal') but this film has a more realistic and adult theme to it. The brothers handle it very well and prove that they can deliver another type of romantic comedy movie for a broader audience.

The brothers have gathered together a good cast to bring the story to an American audience. Drew Barrymore is an expert in this genre and as Lindsey she proves this again. When you need a strong female lead in a film like this, Drew has got this down to a tee and you don't get much better. Jimmy Fallon's profile seems to be getting bigger in Hollywood but it's hard to see why. Another graduate of the hit TV show 'Saturday Night Live' who is labelled for big things, he just doesn't have the same screen presence or comedic skills as other SNL veterans like Will Farrell, Eddie Murphy or Mike Myers but this could be due to the roles he has taken. The jury is still out. The supporting cast is good however, with good performances from Ione Skye, KaDee Strickland and Marissa Jaret Winokur as Lindsey.

'The Perfect Catch (Fever Pitch)' is a good Americanised adaptation of a British novel. While it might not have the same impact outside of the US as the Colin Firth film might have with football (soccer) as its subject, it is the theme of the piece that makes the film a success and very watchable for both the male and female viewers.

Fever Pitch

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2005