Fever Pitch (1997)

hyped garbage

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Plot is quite good, performances are excellent, even the writing is good. A quick plot summary:1) Boy loves Arsenal 2) Boy meets girl and they hate each other 3) They end up falling in love and accidentally getting pregnant 4) Boy's love of football drives them apart. Girl keeps wanting him to live in the real world. 5) Boy makes pretty solid arguments about how the real world is not really all that interesting and it's good to have something outside of yourself to be emotionally attached to. 6) Arsenal wins the league and the both realize they were equally sort of wrong. 7) Happily ever after.This is a delightful film, and you will enjoy it. Especially if you are a Firth fan. He has delightfully moppy hair and his character is frustratingly endearing. There is very little to say on the positive side as it is all just...really nice! Funny, heartwarming, great pacing, just lovely. Stop reading this review and go and watch it.For the downside, there is really only one: the resolution. In classic, rom-com style, after having a row, she (though it's usually the guy) has a change of heart and seeks him out. She runs to his house in the final minutes of the game, and he tells her to...well...get lost but uses much stronger language. This moment relies on you knowing that most British apartments (at least in the late 80s) didn't have a way for you to buzz people in from inside your home. He realizes it was her and runs down to get her (even though the game is still on!) and she has wandered off. He runs back upstairs to catch the winning goal, and they meet up/make up/make out during the victory celebration in the streets. That all sounds lovely, but for me, it fell a bit flat. First, I felt her wandering away was strange. I don't think the movie was materially improved by delaying their reunion until the party. I suppose it gives a bit of a reason to show the celebration, but it felt strange. The time it took him to run downstairs, after swearing at her, was hardly enough time for her to wander far enough that he couldn't see her. Second, the issues in their relationship remain unresolved. There is a bit of a throwaway where he says, "Their failures are not my failures any more" or something like that. Essentially, his life/happiness is less connected to Arsenal's success. So, the movie wants you to think that they met in the middle: he changed a little and so did she (evidenced by their cute bickering as the movie closes). However, it's a trick. He gives up something deeply meaningful to him and becomes less connected to football and his fellow fans. She likes football a little more. That's it. She doesn't think the "real world" is any less real. She learns no lessons about the beauty of loving something you have no control over. That's her whole character: preparing, lesson plans, organization. It's all about control. She doesn't give that up or even question it. You could argue that she feels it a little in the street celebration, but that's unconvincing to me. I've been in those celebrations, and they're fun even if you don't care a whit for the team or even the sport. All it would have taken would have been a single line suggesting that she might be rethinking her priorities. But no, the conclusion is that sports are still juvenile and silly, and we should all really focus on more important things and not be so affected by them.In conclusion, I liked it, but for my personal tastes (as a lover of sport), the resolution could have been more satisfying.

If you are looking to see a romantic comedy I would recommend this British film. It's funny, it's serious, and of course romantic, without being sentimental. The movie felt like a big smile, but the question is; can the love for football and the club Arsenal be combined with the love for a woman? Paul is obsessed with football and 'The Gunners', but Sarah has no idea what this game is all about.The writer Nick Hornby wrote this novel in the 80s, and he is also the man behind the script. He also has a little cameo as a coach for a boy's football team. The story takes place in 1989, and this proved to be an enjoyable and fun movie. I could see myself in my younger days watching the Norwegian team Rosenborg and British Manchester United play, and relating to this movie's depiction of enthusiasm, empathy, anxiety, and even grief, on behalf of the team.Fever Pitch rises above all those anonymous romantic comedies. There is something here that I've never seen before; the environment, the dialogues, and the actors; it has all made this story into something different. As Paul says; "There's always a reason to love what you love". That's passion. For the main character, Arsenal was the social channel to his family and friends, the team meant life and affiliation.Everything is told with intelligence and good humour. The actors gives us capturing performances, especially Colin Firth, he is sparkling with his growing dilemma - football or Sarah, or maybe both? This movie puts across the necessity to be thrilled by football - and of course by fellow humans. This movie for certain a feel good movie!

By now you would have read enough reviews to know enough about the story and the characters.So here's my own opinion of Fever Pitch..Like the DVD cover states for this movie, "Love footie, hate footie, you'll love Fever Pitch". Fever Pitch defines how hundreds of millions of football fans feel around the world, who are as passionate as Paul (Colin Firth) is about Arsenal FC. The relationship with his father, how we handles his classroom and the teacher next door at the school are all realistic, especially if you're living in an obsessive football supporters world, or any sport for that matter..The fact that the Americans took this great script and tried to turn into a story of their own (See: The Perfect Catch) shows that it had great appeal on the otherside of the Atlantic.. The Americans sure have been lacking ideas lately and some have resorted to trying to remake old English classics, with somewhat less success.. e.g. The Italian Job, Alfie and now Fever Pitch If anything, in Fever Pitch you could see Colin Firth's potential to be more than just an English character actor and we all know where his early efforts have gotten him today.A funny film, well worth watching if you've ever been passionate about anything in life, regardless of what team you support..

Nick Hornby has made a reasonable living out of book that re-acclimatise age old blokey diversions with the mainstream. High Fidelity, a film about a record obsessive who comes to terms with regrets over previous girlfriends, was more successful generally. Fever Pitch deserves attention though as a well-acted, pleasantly scripted account of the same shortfalls and overlaps of growing up, this time centred around the obsession of football.Colin Firth, sporting a mop stolen from backstage at a Simply Red gig is the Arsenal compulsive, maybe not living and breathing the team but certainly wearing them. It's the high noon of 'cool Britannia' where women are getting used to the idea that not only thugs but also real men enjoy watching - indeed, following - football and this story is as much about Ruth Gemmell's Sarah coming to terms with that. Holly Aird and Mark Strong are the genre-satisfying confidants. It's a sine qua non for Arsenal supporters but all fans can enjoy it as well. 5/10