Fever Pitch (2005 film)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Fever Pitch | |
|---|---|
| Image:Fever Pitch US.jpg Promotional poster for Fever Pitch | |
| Directed by | Farrelly Brothers |
| Produced by | Nancy Juvonen |
| Written by | Nick Hornby (novel) Lowell Ganz (screenplay) |
| Starring | Drew Barrymore Jimmy Fallon |
| Music by | Craig Armstrong |
| Cinematography | Greg Le Duc Matthew F. Leonetti |
| Editing by | Alan Baumgarten |
| Distributed by | 20th Century Fox |
| Release date(s) | April 8, 2005 |
| Running time | 103 min |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $30 million |
| All Movie Guide profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
Fever Pitch, which was released as The Perfect Catch outside of the United States and Canada, is a Farrelly Brothers comedy film. It is a remake of a 1997 British film of the same name, and is loosely based on the Nick Hornby book Fever Pitch, a best-selling novel in the UK. While both the book and the original 1997 film are about football, this version, aimed at the US market, is about baseball. The film opened in theaters on April 8, 2005.
Contents |
[edit] Plot
Fever Pitch stars Jimmy Fallon as Ben Wrightman, a 30-year-old schoolteacher and lifelong Red Sox fan courting Lindsey Meeks (Drew Barrymore) during the course of the 2004 Major League Baseball season. Meeks, a baseball neophyte, cannot understand Wrightman's obsession with the team; Wrightman, meanwhile, gears up for the postseason while reconciling his conflicting interests: love and sports.
[edit] Cast
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Drew Barrymore | Lindsey Meeks |
| Jimmy Fallon | Ben Wrightman |
| Jason Spevack | Ben in 1980 |
| Jack Kehler | Al |
| Scott Severance | Artie |
| Jessamy Finet | Theresa |
| Maureen Keiller | Viv |
| Lenny Clarke | Uncle Carl |
| Ione Skye | Molly |
| KaDee Strickland | Robin |
| Marissa Jaret Winokur | Sarah |
| Evan Helmuth | Troy |
| Brandon Craggs | Casey |
| Brett Murphy | Ryan |
| Isabella Fink | Audrey |
[edit] Games
The movie was filmed at many actual Red Sox games.
- The Opening Day sequence was filmed on September 4 2004 with Stephen King throwing out the first pitch; the Red Sox lost that game, ending a ten-game winning streak and King was blamed for it in the Boston Globe. This game was against the Texas Rangers (Red Sox lost 8-6).
- Another game filmed for the movie was the September 16, 2004 game against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, which Boston won 11-4. The shooting consisted of 'Drew Barrymore' running across the field to where Jimmy Fallon was sitting, near the Red Sox dugout. This was filmed after the game, with about half the crowd staying after to be extras.
- Footage from a game in Toronto, Canada between the Yankees and the Toronto Blue Jays on October 1, 2004 was shot for the movie. Drew Barrymore and Jimmy Fallon were present at the game and Drew Barrymore was asked to throw the first pitch of the game. It barely made it to the plate and she was extremely embarrassed.
- On October 27, 2004, Game 4 of the 2004 World Series between the St. Louis Cardinals and Boston Red Sox, the finale of this film was shot. After the last play of the game in the bottom of the ninth during the Red Sox celebration, stars 'Drew Barrymore' and Jimmy Fallon were filmed also celebrating together on the field. A brief shot of the filming could be seen live on the Fox broadcast of the World Series. Rewrites by the Farrelly brothers had to be done immediately following the World Series game 7 clincher of the ALCS against the New York Yankees to include the historic 2004 Boston Red Sox post-season.
[edit] Trivia
- Reportedly the film's ending was rewritten at least once as the real-life Red Sox won the 2004 World Series, their first win in 86 years.<ref name=Zap>[1] Zap2It.com (accessed October 15, 2005)</ref>
- Several scenes were shot on location at Fenway Park before, during, and after several home games in the 2004 season, and one scene was shot on the field at Busch Stadium, moments after the Red Sox's final win over the Cardinals.<ref name=FF>Head, Steve (2004). "Jimmy Fallon Talks Fever Pitch" FilmForce.ign.com (accessed May 6, 2006)</ref>
- Ben has a gigantic replica of Fenway Park's left field wall (a.k.a. "The Green Monster") on the wall of his apartment. In real life and in his apartment, the wall includes a hand-operated scoreboard. The particular game immortalized on Ben's mural is that of Game 3 of the 1999 American League Championship Series, won by the Red Sox over the New York Yankees, 13-1. Before Boston's conquest of New York in 2004 (depicted at the end of the film), the '99 game was one of the most memorable Boston wins in recent memory.
- Steve Sweeney was originally slated to be the scalper, but had pneumonia. Peter Farrelly then pulled Ken Rogerson, who was just an extra at the time, over and said, "Your part just got bigger."
- Ben teaches at East Boston High School, which had served as the exterior for Winslow High School in "Boston Public" (2000).
- The warm-up jacket 'Drew Barrymore' wears in the film became extremely popular among female Red Sox fans the week before its national release, and was sold out in stores all across New England.
- This film is loosely based on author Nick Hornby's autobiographical account of his fanatical obsession with the English soccer club Arsenal F.C. while growing up, from his book of the same name.
- The 17 player extras were suited up as the Sox and the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. The 18th person on the field, Mark Van Savage, is a dead ringer for Johnny Damon and was going to be his body double in the scene. As they were setting up the shot, Damon came out from the dugout, waved to the crowd, and trotted out towards center field. Van Savage shrugged and left by the gate that he and the camera trucks came in by.
- There is scene in the trailer in a sports bar when Lindsey says "It's just a game!" and the sports bar immediately goes quiet, until Ben says "She said 'It's a crying Shame.'" This scene is not in the movie.
- During the flashback to the first game that Ben's uncle took him to we see three actual former 1980 Red Sox players playing themselves. Two are very recognizable star players Dennis Eckersley and Jim Rice. The other is Keith Macwhorter who only pitched one season in the majors. His career record was 0 wins and 3 losses in his 24 game career.
[edit] Goofs
- Anachronism: The banners hanging outside Fenway with dates of World Championships on them were not there in 1980.
- Anachronism: In a scene set in 1980, Uncle Carl's car shows a modern Massachusetts emissions sticker on the windshield.
- After Lindsay is hit with the foul ball, they watch the replay on SportsCenter. The announcer says Miguel Tejada (the Baltimore Oriole's Shortstop) hit the foul ball. But on the clip, the batter is white. Tejada, who is from the Dominican Republic, is dark skinned.
- During game 4 of the ALCS while it is showing Ben, in the background we can hear an announcement for the Yankees' John Olerud. Olerud did not play at all during that game.
- In the Red Sox home opener of 2004, they played the Toronto Blue Jays and lost 15-5, in the movie, they are playing the Texas Rangers and come away with the win. Later, a close up of the Red Sox schedule shows them hosting Texas in September. As a non-division opponent, the Rangers do not come to Boston for more than one series in the regular season.
- In Massachusetts in 2004, "Spring Break" was the third week of April, not the end of March as Ben said to Lindsey.
- The Park scene, according to City of Boston Park rules and regulations, could not legally exist. Ben says in his 'list of things I like about you' Lindsey drinks in the middle of the day, inferring that there is liquor in her cup. According to Section 1 Subsection G 'No person can have in his or her possession intoxicating liquor'. Also Ben is having a BBQ, according to Section 3 Subsection J 'No person can make a fire'.
- SPOILER: The final scene when Lindsay runs across the field is rife with errors. First, the broadcast would not have shown her on TV (networks do not show streakers to discourage people from doing it). Next, the security guards would never have let her reach the home plate stands, let alone stand and talk to Ben. Finally, the Green Monster scoreboard clearly depicts the top of the fifth inning against Tampa Bay - not the 9th inning of game 4 of the ALCS, when the scene takes place. In addition to incorrectly showing Lindsey's dash across the field on TV, she is shown from a handheld camera that must be *on*the field. There would be no such TV camera on the field during a game, only after the game has ended.
- Jimmy Fallon in real life is a big time fan of the New York Mets Major League Baseball team.
[edit] Quotes
- Steve Levy: Where do the Red Sox rank in your life?
- Ben Wrightman: I say Red Sox, sex, and breathing!
[edit] Notes
<references />
[edit] External links
- Official website
- Fever Pitch (2005) at the Internet Movie Database
- Fever Pitch at the Baseball Movie Guidefr:Terrain d'entente
