Fever Pitch

Year: 2005
Genre: Comedy
Category: Baseball
Status: DVD
Time: 103 min.
Rated: PG-13

Synopsis:
Ever since his first childhood visit to Fenway Park, easygoing schoolteacher Ben (Jimmy Fallon) has been in love with the Boston Red Sox. When he meets a successful workaholic named Lindsey Meeks (Drew Barrymore), he warns her that being such an avid fan has been a problem in his past relationships. On the brink of turning 30, Lindsey is eager to make what seems like an otherwise promising romance work, and she agrees to go with Ben to opening day (of the eventful 2004 season when the Red Sox won the World Series for the first time in 86 years).

Director: Bobby Farrelly and Peter Farrelly
Writer: Lowell Ganz, Babaloo Mandel and Nick Hornby
Producer: Alan Greenspan, Gil Netter, Drew Barrymore, Nancy Juvonen, Bradley Thomas and David Zucker
Company: ELC Productions Ltd., Fox 2000 Pictures, Wildgaze Films, Alan Greenspan Productions and Flower Films

Cast:
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)
Jason Varitek (Himself)
Johnny Damon (Himself)
Trot Nixon (Himself)
Jim Rice (Himself)
Dennis Eckersley (Himself)
Keith Macwhorter (Himself)
Peter Gammons (Himself)
Tim McCarver (Himself)
Don Orsillo (Himself)
Harold Reynolds (Himself)
Bob Lobel (Himself)
John-Eliot Jordan (Himself)
Stephen King (Himself)
John Olerud (Himself)

Trailer:


Trivia:
. Fever Pitch is based on Nick Hornby's autobiographical book Fever Pitch, which recounted the author's obsession with English football (better known to Americans as soccer). But instead of "Americanizing" Hornby's work, screenwriters Lowell Ganz & Babaloo Mandel took his premise of an obsessive sports fan, and fashioned a contemporary romantic comedy in the classic tradition.

. The famed screenwriting duo, whose credits include "Parenthood," "Splash," "A League of their Own," "City Slickers," and Fox's animated feature "Robots," call the process of working on the Fever Pitch script a true labor of love.

. To prepare for the role, Fallon traveled to Boston's historic Fenway Park, where he met fans every bit as obsessive as his character, Ben Wrightman. "I ran into these incredible fans before and after the Red Sox games," says Fallon. "I got really caught up in their enthusiasm and the whole Fenway Park experience. It's just an incredible place. And it's a park. It's not Fenway 'Stadium.' It's intimate. I've heard players say they can actually feel the heat of the crowd when they're down on the field. It's amazing."

. To depict Ben's obsession with the game, Production Designer Maher Ahmad stuffed Ben's with baseball memorabilia, including Red Sox sheets and towels. He replicated the Fenway Park's famed outfield wall, the Green Monster, on one of Ben's living room walls, while also adding accents familiar to Sox fans.

. In fact, the Farrellys fulfilled a lifelong dream by shooting sequences at Fenway Park. (Toronto was another principal location.) The Fever Pitch crew was given 10 days to shoot in Fenway; half of which were game days.

. Perhaps the most anxious moment for the filmmakers came at the end of one game, when the Farrellys had to walk out onto the field and ask 37,000 fans to remain in their seats while the production filmed a scene that had Drew Barrymore running across the field. Fortunately, Bobby Farrelly immediately won over the fans with a good-natured jibe about the Bosox's opponents, the New York Yankees.

. During production, the Farrellys set up two monitors while they worked, one that showed the scene they were filming, the other that televised the games.

. When the Red Sox traveled to St. Louis for the World Series, the Farrellys were reluctant to join them, for fear of jinxing the team.

. "I got a message saying 'Pack your bags. We're leaving in three hours,'" Jimmy Fallon recalls. "There were no hair or makeup people. We even wore our scene clothes on the plane." "Of course, the Sox did win the game," Bobby Farrelly says. "Major League Baseball let us out on the field, and we got footage that would have been impossible to recreate." "We always said from the beginning that whatever happened to the Red Sox wouldn't affect the story," Peter Farrelly notes. "Fever Pitch doesn't rest on whether the Red Sox win or lose. But hopefully capturing their win the way we did makes the movie that much richer."

. Towards the end of the movie, when they go to game four of the ALCS the announcer at the stadium announces: "Now batting John Olerud" but John Olerud didn't play in game four of the ALCS because he hit his foot with his bat during game 3 of the ALCS. (Timecode available)

. When they show Ben on TV he is in Florida. In the background there are many different kinds of trees, even ones that don't belong in Florida, but there is not one palm tree.

. In the "Opening Day" scene, everyone is wearing shorts and t-shirts. Opening day in 2004 was April 9th and game time temperature was 52 F. Not really t-shirts and shorts weather.

. One of the Red Sox games filmed is the 4 September 2004 game against the Texas Rangers (Red Sox lost 8-6).

. On 27 October 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.

. Footage from a game in Toronto, Canada between the Yankees and the Blue Jays on 1 October 2004 was shot for the movie. 'Drew Barrymore' and Jimmy Fallon were present at the game and she threw out the first pitch.

. 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 N.Y. 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."

. 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.

. The Opening Day sequence was filmed on 4 September 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.

. Exactly 17 members from the Boston Men's Baseball League were selected to appear as player extras in full uniform in the film. Filming took place at Fenway Park from September 16-23, 2004 from 5pm to 5am nightly. Included in the cast from the BMBL were: Boston Athletics: John Howe Boston Cardinals: Dan Jalbert Boston Marlins: Andy Katz Boston Rockies: Dave Mitrou Boston White Sox: Ryan Gray & Jason Hoye Cambridge Cubs: Billy Burton & Jamie Waters Medford Mets: John Collins North Andover: Paul Laurin Somerville Senators: Michael Sawyer & Russ Ward T's Pub Dodgers: Scott Gilefsky & Andy Hickey Wayland White Sox: Jerry Dawson, Dana Johnson & Steve Wolf

. 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 soccer while growing up.

. 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.

. While filming in Toronto, Ontario Canada, 'Drew Barrymore' was asked to throw the first pitch of the game. It barely made it to the plate and she was extremely embarrassed.

. 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.

. There is scene in the trailer when Lindsey, while at a game, gets hit with a foul ball. Immediately afterward it shows Ben waving to the camera. The wave is not included in this scene in the movie.

. All the titles are done in the same lettering style as on Red Sox uniforms.

. Footage of the "rolling rally" victory parade is shown at the end.

. The music at the end is interspersed with radio ads, as if someone is tuning a radio between stations.

. Following the credits, there is a short home-video-like clip of 4 children cheering on the Red Sox.

. The DVD editon of the film dubbed the "Cursed Reversed Edition for Boston Red Sox fans" by Fox contains the alternate ending of the film that was actually shot during the 2004 playoffs and World Series. In the original ending of the film scripted by Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel, "The Curse of the Bambino" dubbed by die hard Red Sox fans would have continued "if" the Yankees had beaten them in the playoffs. The Red Sox, who were down by three games, had come back and beaten the Yankees which was the first time a pro-sports team had ever come back from such a defeat and eventually won the World Series, sweeping the St.Louis Cardinals. The moment that it had happened, Drew Barrymore and Jimmy Fallon in character, ran onto the field and celebrated with the team. This ending was edited in the film as a montage with narration by actor Jack Kehler.

.

Quotes:
1. Ben: Bucky Friggin' Dent!

2. Lindsey Meeks: If you love me enough to sell your tickets, I love you enough not to let you.

3. Reporter at Spring Training: Where do the Sox rank in terms of importance in your life?
Ben: I say the Red Sox... sex... and breathing.

4. Robin: He's offering Ben $125,000 for his Red Sox tickets.
Sarah: Are you really that rich?
Robin: Yes.
Sarah: Then why don't you dress better?

5.

font: IMDB, Adoro Cinema.com, Wikipedia, Rotten Tomatoes, You Tube.

by: Sport Movies Digest