Movies From the Hat 7 – #48 – Emily’s Pick – Fever Pitch (1997)

Date: Author: Category: 1990's, 1997, Globe worthy, MovieRob Premiere viewing, Movies From the Hat, Romantic Comedy, Sports

This is my 3993rd Review

Thanks to Emily of The Flapper Dame for this recommendation.

She chose that I pick a film starring Colin Firth

“Why is it that adults aren’t supposed to go mad about anything? You gotta keep a lid on it. And if you don’t then people are apparently entitled to say what they like. “You haven’t grown up. You’re a moron. Your conversation is trivial and boorish. You can’t express your emotional needs. You can’t relate to your children.” And you die, lonely and miserable. But you know, what the hell, every cloud has a silver lining.” – Paul

Number of Times Seen – 1 (20 Apr 2018)

Brief Synopsis – A teacher obsessed with football (soccer) has trouble juggling his sports life with his love life.

My Take on it – This is a film that I’ve been interested in seeing for years yet never had the chance to.

I have always been a HUGE fan of the American remake by the Farrelly Brothers and starring Jimmy Fallon and Drew Barrymore.

That film spoke to me so much and I had hopes that this film could do something similar but probably sue to the use of football (soccer) and the British tint of things took away from it a bit.

The overall idea about finding a balance between sports and love works very well here and that aspect shines through in each version.

Colin Firth is great in the lead role and eventhough he is slightly unrecognizable due to his youth and his very unkept hairstyle, he comes across as the kind of teacher many of us would wish we had in our lives in order to learn about life and sports.

Bottom Line – Very interesting idea that works quite well. The American remake of this film speaks to me much more directly and that is among my favorite rom-coms.  Perhaps part of my issue with this film is the British aspects of it including football which I’m less of a fan of than baseball.  The story does do a great job dealing with how people need to find a way to seek the balances in life no matter what.  Firth is almost unrecognizable in this role because of his youth and unkept hair and comes across as the kind of teacher that many of us wish we might have had the pleasure to have taught us about life…and sports. Recommended!

MovieRob’s Favorite Trivia – When Sarah asks Paul to quote Lord Byron, he quotes a famous couplet, “The Assyrians came down like the wolf on the fold; / Their cohorts were gleaming in purple and gold.” But he changes “purple and gold” to “black and old gold,” the colors of the Wolves football team. (From IMDB)

Rating – Globe Worthy (7/10)

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13 thoughts on “Movies From the Hat 7 – #48 – Emily’s Pick – Fever Pitch (1997)”

  1. Never seen (although I was aware of) the British version. Might actually work better for me than the American remake – because I’m a Yankee fan (and used to play on the same Writers Guild softball team as Peter and Bobby Farrelly) – and when Boston made the improbable ALCS comeback against the Yankees and went on to win the World Series – the Farrellys had to reshoot the ending of the movie. Watching it made me physically ill, so I’m not the one to comment on or critique either film.

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    • Im also a yankee fan, but that doesnt affect me watching movies ere the yanks lose. loved the chemistry between Fallon and Barrymore and just just didnt feel it as strongly in this version between Firth and Ruth Gemmell.

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      • ot of movies where the Yankees lose. I lived through the real blown 3-0 lead in the ALCS and those extra inning blown games in real team. I didn’t need to relive it in a movie. Told all that to Peter Farrelly. And bottom line, regardless of the Yankee stuff – I didn’t care all that much for the movie. I’m not and have never been a Jimmy Fallon fan.

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      • Basically Peter didn’t give a shit. He’s from Rhode Island and a rabid Red Sox fan. But he did me a solid by inviting me to a dinner party he had one year so I could meet Sarah Jessica Parker. So he’s off the hook. A few weeks later, he asked me to stick around after one of our softball games – to help Sarah (and another actress friend of hers) – with hitting, catching and throwing – so she could audition for A League of Their Own. She didn’t get a part.

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          • I might do that. Leave the book to my kids to be published posthumously. A mutual friend – who had co-written Something About Mary with HIS partner before it got to the Farrellys (who put my name in the movie) – knew I had a crush on Sarah. He calls to tell me Peter’s having a dinner party and she’s going to be there. Plus – he tells me – she broke up with Robert Downey, Jr. Did I want to get invited. I told him yes. He calls Peter – who adds me to the list – but tells Ed to tell me that she has NOT broken up with Robert. Do I still want to come? Yes. I sang karaoke, told jokes, was on my A game (BTW – Molly Ringwald was there as well, but I didn’t have a crush on her). Probably why Peter asked me to stay after softball. After that – the 4 of us went out for burgers – and she was great. But she was still with Robert and I didn’t get a heads up before she moved on to her (now) husband,

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  4. Pingback: Temporal Top Ten – 1997 |

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