Fever Pitch (1997)

Fever Pitch (1997)

1997 102 Minutes

Comedy | Romance

A romantic comedy about a man, a woman and a football team. Based on Nick Hornby's best selling autobiographical novel, Fever Pitch. English teacher Paul Ashworth believes his long standing obsessi...

Overall Rating

7 / 10
Verdict: Good

User Review

  • BarneyNuttall

    BarneyNuttall

    7 / 10
    I gave it a chance. Nothing about football excites me, hooliganism is as equal a threat as a tsunami in my book and even the world cop only stirs a minor palpitation in my body. But, with Colin Firth starring and a story with areas for those wonderful rain pouring, heart-throbbing exclamations of love, I invested.

    Fever Pitch neither disappointed nor depressed. Messy, disjointed with an unnatural balance for the beautiful game rather than a beautiful life, the film toys with two characters who are flawed, but not equally. I think, in my interpretation, the film is an interesting portrayal of married life and the culling of identity which can follow. But, with the football montage and the 'come on team!' mindset which infects every last character (even you side character #3), it's hard to see the film playing an open game. A further issue with the idea\ that football is a mass unifier is a farce. Racism and sexism run rampant within the football world, with the former being completely overlooked in this film while the latter seems to be 'justified' by a spattering of mothers.

    While heartwarming and comical at times, the clear adoration for the beautiful game muddies the pitch rendering any attempt at anequally sided game impossible.