Customer Reviews

Fever Pitch [VHS]

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(21)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

As a Nick Hornby fan, I read "Fever Pitch" and found it to be very masculine. It was organized much like the sports page--match by match, sort of a statistical chronicle of Arsenal over several decades. The film, on the other hand, centers on the personal life of the football fanatic (closely based on Nick Hornby himself) and provides much more balance and intrigue.

The match-up of the serious, somewhat humorless female English teacher and the passionate-about-football but about little else male English teach is enticing. She wants to learn to loosen up and connect with her students and their parents the way she perceives he does, and he wants to be with someone attractive with backbone and spark. As played by Ruth Gemmell and Colin Firth, you see why these opposites attract and you also see why they conflict.

Despite the provocative cover, I don't see why this film is rated R. Language, maybe, and adult ideas? The sex is tame and modest, although there is an out-of-wedlock pregnancy. Still, I think this would be as good a film for the teenage sports fan as it is for adults. How passions conflict (in this case, between love and sports fanaticism) and how compromises and resolutions can be made is a worthy topic to address and is well answered in this film.

You would never know that this was the same actor who played Darcy so fabulously well in "Pride and Prejudice." He is totally convincing as a teacher whose all-consuming passion is football (soccer really because this is England). He is in the midst of a romance with another teacher but his overriding interest in football seriously interferes with the woman in his life. Any woman who has ever experienced this dilemma should fall totally in love with this film. There are even many hilarious moments pertaining to this sports addiction. The writer, Nick Hornby, also wrote "High Fidelity" and you can tell that the same person wrote both. He has a very unique way of presenting men and their romantic foibles. Firth, in this film, and John Cusack, in "High Fidelity," are not your typical screen romantic heroes and they provide offbeat alternatives to all of us oddballs out there.

I wrote an earlier review of Nick Hornby's 'Fever Pitch' as well. It's worth writing a separate review of the movie because it's so different. Not better, or worse. Just different. The book focuses on Hornby's lifelong obession with Arsenal, the English Premiership football (aka 'soccer') club. In the movie, Hornby's written a script that focuses on one extended episode from the book. It becomes more of a relationship movie.

Here's evidence of the difference: my wife tried to read the book, but could only stomach about 30 pages of it. I endured it, liked it, but I'll admit that it can be a tough slog for someone that didn't grow up with English football. The names of Arsenal players, coaches and opponents became a blur at times.

In contrast, we both enjoyed the movie a great deal. It's a cute little story (nothing more), and we both like all of Colin Firth's work. He's a little more rumpled than usual here, but compelling nevertheless.

Oh yeah, ignore the cover box. There are no topless women. No strategically placed soccer cleats. It's yet another odd effort by American re-packagers thinking they have to disguise the true nature of a British movie (see also "Brassed Off" and, most egregiously, "East is East").

Honestly, the things that marketing departments will do... the closest this film comes to nudity is a glimpse of Colin Firth's Arsenal boxer shorts. Fever Pitch is a terrific adaptation of Nick Hornby's book (adaptation *by* Nick Hornby, so go figure)... where the book spent time obsessing over the minutiae of Arsenal matches dating back 34 years, the film manages to capture that obsession nicely without subjecting *us* to all those minutes. Instead, Hornby spends his time looking at how such sports obsessions/identifications are born, what they take the place of, and how they change as the obsessers have to confront some of life's non-sports-related oddities (jobs, love, children, etc.). Colin Firth is great, Ruth Gemmell is good (though I find I don't know much about her Sarah by the time the movie is over), and it's a well-done movie. Three and a half stars, by the way, rather than four, but something that sports nuts and those who have to put up with them can enjoy together.

I lived and worked in London from 1997-1998. As it turned out, I ended up finding a flat on Highbury Park Road in North London. Closest tube stop: Arsenal on the Picadilly Line.

I walked past the Grounds nearly everyday.

When I first mentioned my new neighborhood to my English workmates, they thought I was either mad, that I'd want to live so close to Highbury or lied to by an unscrupulous estate agent "yes, this neighborhood of Islington is quite leafy and quiet. In fact, Tony Blair lived here before he became PM!"

A friend suggested I check out "Fever Pitch" to find out a bit more about my neighborhood and the "Gooners."

Well, I had to say it was a great introduction for me into the life of an Arsenal supporter and live in the neighborhood. 1998 was the year they won the double (League & FA Cup) for only the 2nd time in their history. Incidentally, this was the first time in my life I had ever seen riot police & helicopters flying overhead shining lights down on the streets. Seemed a bit LA'ish!

I couldn't quite figure out why I was attracted to the neighborhood, nor why I so much liked the film, until I saw a newspaper article comparing the MLB Red Sox & Yankees to Arsenal & Manchester United (respectively). I finally realized that growing up in Boston, I had found my second home in North London!

Well, this review is more about my experience in London, but the film was a great part of that experience.

Colin Firth is wonderful as the completely clueless, but absolutely charming soccer-mad English teacher. Between you and me, that's the only reason for a female to watch this film. Women, if you're bored by all the soccer stuff, think of it as an anthropological study of a subject you'll never understand. The bonus is that you get to study it while observing Firth. The only reason it doesn't get 5 stars is that through most of the movie, I found myself screaming at Paul Ashworth for being so damn stupid. Ruth Gemmell is excellent, but who am I kidding? It's Firth's dimples and curls that make this movie for me. He looks scrumptious enough to eat with a spoon.

I'm guessing they were trying to appeal to a male crowd with this cover. It has nothing to do with the movie. It is a nice romantic comedy with some fun stuff for British football fans. Let me clarify: No random toppless woman. This is not Bachleor Party. My boyfriend follows British Football and it was fun for him to see some of his teams and be a part of the fan culture there. I follow Colin Firth, and it was fun for me to see him in another cute romantic comedy.

This is a funny and touching movie at times. I saw the American re-hash of it but it didn't traslate as well to baseball. As this is Nick Hornby's autobiography how could it. He's English and an Arsenal fan. It's a shame this movie will not be seen in the States. Whoever made the decision to change it to an American version did a gross mis-service to this film. I have found American audiences to be very receptive to British movies

Good movie- I agree with most of the reviews. I just want to know
who designs these AWFUL covers like the semi-nude with the shoes.
The British version,and they are not shy, has a funny picture of Ruth Gemmell and Colin Firth on the cover and it's easy to see that it is a romantic comedy involving sports. Do they think that an American will not buy it and it needs to be 'spiced'up? They did the same thing to the movie 'Persuasion' several years ago.

I wasn't even aware of this film's existence until my British sister-in-law alerted me to it. I have yet to see the American version of this film so I cannot make comparisons. I'm baffled by British football but that is not an impediment to your enjoying this film. Football is just the subtext for this film about a thirty-something lit teacher(Colin Firth) whose lifelong obsession with the Arsenal club allows him to make a tenuous connection with humanity. This fanaticism comes into question when he developes a relationship with a fellow teacher(Ruth Gemmell). Sports obsession is fine when it is put in it's proper context but potentially fatal when trying to be intimate with another human being. Firth does just fine in his portrayal of the football fanatic, not overdoing it but giving a well-rounded picture of a man who has difficulty letting go of his adolescent obsessions. There are many funny moments here, many touching, and also many universal truths on display. This film is an excellent companion to later Nick Hornby film adaptations, "High Fidelity" and "About a Boy".