Fever Pitch

Directed by Peter and Bobby Farrelly, Fever Pitch follows baseball fanatic Ben Wrightman (Jimmy Fallon) as he meets and falls for Drew Barrymore’s Lindsey Meeks – with complications ensuing after Ben’s obsession with the Red Sox threatens to derail the couple’s blossoming relationship. It’s familiar territory that’s employed to somewhat generic yet perpetually entertaining effect by the Farrellys, as the filmmakers, armed with Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel’s screenplay, deliver a briskly-paced and mostly engaging endeavor that benefits substantially from the top-tier efforts of Fallon and Barrymore – with the actors’ charming and thoroughly affable work here, when coupled with their palpable chemistry together, perpetuating the movie’s entertaining atmosphere. (It doesn’t hurt, either, that the Farrellys have peppered the supporting cast with such top-tier talents as JoBeth Williams, Ione Skye, and James B. Sikking.) And although the picture generally seems to have emerged directly from a romcom template, Fever Pitch‘s overall impact is heightened by the Farrellys’ energetic approach to the material and an ongoing emphasis on memorable, often hilarious sequences and set-pieces (eg Ben panics during a dinner with Lindsey’s parents after a nearby table begins discussing a baseball game). By the time the completely satisfying final stretch rolls around, Fever Pitch has cemented its place as an above-average romantic comedy that ultimately fares much, much better than one might’ve initially anticipated.

*** out of ****