Search

Fever Pitch

1997, Movie, R, 102 mins

Fever Pitch: Review

FEVER PITCH
starstarstarstar
This small-scale drama is based on acclaimed sports writer-turned-novelist Nick Hornby's 1992 memoir (a UK best seller), in which his fanatical support of heart-breaking soccer team Arsenal looms larger than life itself. Paul Ashworth (Colin Firth), who's in his 30s and has nothing to show for it in the way of personal accomplishments or family ties, is only incidentally a middle-school English teacher. His passion is soccer and his team is Arsenal, the losingest guys around; his love affair with the game dates back to the day his divorced dad decided they should bond over a match. Instead, the community of Arsenal fans became Paul's new family, a more satisfying one than his snotty little sister, harried mum and absentee father. Almost by accident, Paul finds himself dating Sarah Hughes (Ruth Gemmell), the new history teacher who's everything he's not: mature, organized, serious about teaching and completely uninterested in soccer. And against all odds, they keep seeing each other, though the relationship has its rough spots; Sarah hates her first Arsenal game — the noise, the cold, the lumpen laddishness — and grows increasingly impatient with living life according to soccer seasons. Hornby's novels About a Boy and High Fidelity revolve around terminally adolescent men being forced to grow up; the autobiographical Fever Pitch — which appears to have been slightly fictionalized in the transition from book to film (by Hornby himself ), probably explains why. It's an amiable enough picture, and genuinely insightful about the emotional appeal of devoted fandom; the sense of comraderie with other fans, the ready-made set of beliefs and goals, the intense highs (and lows) that most people's day-to-day lives are hard put to match. But the demands of narrative put the romance at the film's center, and it's really pretty slight stuff. leave a comment --Maitland McDonagh
Advertisement

Shop

Fever Pitch (Full Screen Edition)
Buy Fever Pitch (Full Screen Edition) from Amazon.com
From 20th Century Fox (DVD)
Average Customer Review: nostarnostarnostarnostarstar
Usually ships in 24 hours
Buy New: $13.49 (as of 11/24/09 1:16 PM EST - more info)
Fever Pitch
Buy Fever Pitch from Amazon.com
From Lions Gate (DVD)
Average Customer Review: nostarnostarnostarnostarstar
Usually ships in 24 hours
Buy New: $13.49 (as of 11/24/09 1:16 PM EST - more info)

more Fever Pitch products

Advertisement

Related Websites

You might be also interested in the following websites:

Most Popular TV Shows

  1. Dancing with the Stars
  2. The Game
  3. NCIS
  4. American Idol
  5. Wife Swap
more popular tv shows

Most Popular Celebrities

  1. Adam Lambert
  2. Jon Gosselin
  3. Kate Gosselin
  4. Courteney Cox
  5. Shakira
more popular celebrities

Most Popular Movies

  1. The Twilight Saga: New Moon
  2. The Blind Side
  3. 2012
  4. Planet 51
  5. A Christmas Carol
more popular movies

Top Videos

  1. Family Guy
  2. Robert Pattinson
  3. House
  4. Dancing with the Stars
  5. Project Runway
more top videos