I saw "Fever Pitch" (the Red Sox version) last night. It was not bad. But apart from some of the Red Sox stuff, it was not good, either.
First: I know this comes a surprise to the people who keep hiring her, and the people who keep watching her, but Drew Barrymore cannot act. She automatically brings down every movie she is in with her terribly wooden attempts at it.
Second: romantic comedies are generally dumb, with dumb lines, dumb characters, and dumb plots. This one was no exception. Barrymore's friends made no sense on any level. And her transition from "I will accept your craziness" to "no I won't" was not in the least bit believable: any real human being in her situation would not have dumped him just because he was initially depressed for missing what turned out to be a great game.
Third: the aformentioned great game never happened. That annoys me.
Fourth: the cops would not have stood by while Barrymore and Fallon talked about their relationship. They'd have carried her off right away, and I wished they would have in the movie, too.
Fifth: did I mention Drew Barrymore can't act?
Sixth: Fallon wasn't very funny. A couple good lines. And some of those were ruined by Barrymore.
Basically, when Barrymore wasn't in the movie, it was pretty good. I recognized a lot of the cameos (not just players etc., but some of the actual fans), and while the fans' devotion to the Sox was an exagerrated caricature, it was a wholly recognizable one. Some people have criticized it for being a caricature, but that's like criticizing Dana Carvey for not sounding exactly like Bush 41. It's funny and hits home because it is a caricature, and a damned good one.
I'd have liked to see even more of the Red Sox stuff, but oh well. If you really want to see some real Red Sox fans in action, rent "Still We Believe." It's an absolutely fantastic documentary following the 2003 season (and stars some of the fans who were featured in Fever Pitch).
I bought the documentary, so I can show my children someday just what it is like to be a Sox fan in Massachusetts, and what it is like to not win a World Series for 86 years, as I hope they have little firsthand knowledge of such things. And so I don't forget myself.
So if you're a Sox fan and love dumb romantic comedies and Drew Barrymore, "Fever Pitch" is the best movie evah. If you're only the latter, it is pretty good. If you're only the former, it's still worth watching.
I hear the original "Fever Pitch" is good, that's next in my Netflix Queue.
