A geometry teacher, Ben (Jimmy Fallon), has been an ardent Red Sox fan ever since the first time his uncle took him to Fenway Park. His occupation as a Red Sox fan gives him a sort of double identity. Lindsay (Drew Barrymore) falls in love with Ben, who is so adorable and sweet that Lindsay's friends deem it a mystery why he is still a bachelor. The truth is that Lindsay has only met the "winter guy." There is another person inside this sweet school teacher-the "summer guy," a helpless Red Sox fan. At first Lindsay is glad that Ben has such a strong passion about something other than her, which will give her time to focus on her work as a high-powered executive. But she underestimates how much the Red Sox dominate his life-how his apartment and wardrobe is stocked with the colors red and white only, how he would rather go to spring training in Florida than spend time meeting her parents and so on. The summer Ben, it turns out, is not as in love with Lindsay as much as he is with the Boston Red Sox.
It takes Ben quite a while to realize how, in his own words, he is an idiot. "It's just an obsession," he exclaims as he runs out of the bar to find Lindsay, who has left him after a huge fight. Ben had said that missing the chance to watch the Sox beat the Yankees live made that night his worst since he was seven. (Oh, did I mention he has two lifelong season tickets for seats just behind the dugout at Fenway Park?) This leads to the question of whether Lindsay is too hurt to take Ben back.
The basic synopsis of the movie is very believable and familiar. You know these people. The character of Ben is someone whom you have already met on some sitcom or another with different names and different actors. Fallon perfectly captures that image of a nice, average guy who is sort of awkward in an adorable way, although I'm not sure whether he is acting that way, or whether he is just an awkward actor. And Barrymore is perfect for her role as well, with her coy small gestures and innocent-looking expressions that we've seen already in many-too many?-other movies.
To make a long description short, this is your typical romantic comedy with predictable comic moments and standard aww-so-cute-moments. What's more, the directors even inserted quite a significant amount of actual Red Sox games from last year, some of which will definitely make you relive the joy and the pathos of being a Red Sox fan last season. (Or more pathos than joy, if you're a Yankees fan.)
Overall, this movie classifies itself in something of a middle ground between being a movie for Red Sox fans and a typical romantic comedy. Although it is nice of the directors to take time explaining what it means to be a Red Sox fan (the Curse of the Bambino, how the Red Sox are "always there for you," etc.), it seems like the movie loses focus too often as a result. This film is definitely not a movie about Red Sox or baseball or even sports in general, yet it has compromised its own potential to be an excellent romantic comedy by dabbling too extensively in a category where it does not so easily fall. Also, Ben's epiphanic moment at the bar seems too sudden and simple to be convincing after all the nonsensical obsessive behaviors that he has shown us throughout the majority of the movie.
There have been better romantic comedies and even better movies that involve baseball. Take "There's Something about Mary" (by the same directors) or "Field of Dreams," for example. Perhaps even "Never Been Kissed," which also stars Barrymore and has an ending scene similar to the one in "Fever Pitch." However, "Fever Pitch" is still a very pleasant movie that guarantees a smile on your face as you walk out of the theater. If you're a Red Sox fan, which I know many of you are, you'll probably want to check it out.