Ed: You know there are other sports beside Baseball.
Ben: I’d debate you Ed, but that would only result in me being dragged away in handcuffs.

Hey, I may not like sports, but I understand obsession, which is why I was able to watch “Fever Pitch” with some sense of connection. But, let’s not bullshit here, sports fans and Red Sox fans will find more to enjoy with this. During the filming of this the Red Sox finally won the Stanley Cup… wait, no, the Heisman. Just kidding, the pennant, which made for a drastic change in the climax of the film, and ultimately a better climax that signals hope not only for the team but for the couple spotlighted here for us to behold. Though “Fever Pitch” is far from perfection, it sure is fun, and actually manages to draw engaging characters that keep us wondering how they’ll end up, particularly since the performances by Barrymore and Fallon are basically decent.

One of the aspects that makes “Fever Pitch” so fun is that the dialogue, and not just the dramatic dialogue which keeps our characters grounded in down to earth chemistry, and rather interesting situations, but in the dialogue that actually keeps Fallon pretty damn funny. Fallon, aka quasi-Sandler, manages to really hit the mark in terms of comedy with many funny one-liners that drew an occasional chuckle because of the pure fast ball delivery in which executes them. When Fallon is not trying to be too funny, he’s really pretty damn entertaining. “Fever Pitch” doesn’t just explore how sports can come between a healthy relationship, but how obsession of any kind can come in between a healthy relationship if not kept in check, and gladly, “Fever Pitch” was an entertaining romance comedy with a happy ending on all levels.

Yet not even the Farrelly brothers themselves could muster up the comedic ability, or script to make Jimmy Fallon laugh out loud funny, because, let’s face it people, Fallon has never really been funny, not ever. And when he’s trying to be the outrageous and quirky comedian, he falls flatter than Danny Devito on the high dive. Fallon has always had this personality that he’s trying too hard to get us to like him which causes us not to like him, and he’s trying too hard to be funny but he ends up being obnoxious, and he tries too hard to be a dramatic actor that he just feels utterly forced.

Summing up, Fallon still isn’t funny, and often times he’s just distracting, especially with the often weak gags presented that really does try to show the obsessive aspect of the character of Ben, which leads to an odd dancing sequence, and more of Fallon trying to be “outrageous” which will have us cringing. Meanwhile, neither of these characters are ever really interesting, because they are just so damn selfish. One is annoyed because her relationship isn’t as fulfilling as it could be, while the other is upset that his sports are being drawn back by his relationship, which leads to utterly polarizing situations in which the characters whine about having the other to themselves, and they never go beyond those concepts to make them more three-dimensional.

Maybe you have to love the Red Sox to really enjoy "Fever Pitch," but then you never really had to know sports to know a pretty bad movie. "Fever Pitch" suffers from two annoying co-stars with a boring romance, in spite of the fascinating story.

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