Fever Pitch
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation | Release Date: April 8, 2005 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
56
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 37 Critic Reviews
Positive:
16
Mixed:
19
Negative:
2
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
It's been a while since a movie made the game of love this winning. Read full review
88
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
The movie has been directed by the Farrelly brothers...Here, they're sensitive and warm-hearted, never push too hard, empathize with the characters, allow Lindsey and Ben to become people we care about. Read full review
88
Baltimore SunChris Kaltenbach
Baseball, Boston and Drew Barrymore. Certainly sounds like a winning combination. Read full review
80
VarietyBrian Lowry
The Farrelly brothers are growing up, which in this case isn't a bad thing. With a tacked-on ending made necessary by the Boston Red Sox's improbable World Series run last fall, Fever Pitch proves a charming romantic comedy against "A Beautiful Mind"-type framework. Read full review
75
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
A curious mix of smarts and schmaltz. Read full review
75
Boston GlobeWesley Morris
Effortlessly entertaining romantic comedy. Read full review
75
Chicago TribuneAllison Benedikt
The gall of Peter and Bobby Farrelly. To think that a romantic comedy might work absent a sleazy wager or maddening miscommunication takes a lot of chutzpah. Read full review
75
Charlotte ObserverLawrence Toppman
The picture's consistently entertaining and, though it has few brilliant comic peaks, it never plunges into boring valleys. Read full review
75
Philadelphia InquirerSteven Rea
Fever Pitch works. At times, it works brilliantly. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterMichael Rechtshaffen
Ultimately goes the distance, it gets the job done with a halfhearted bunt rather than a solid line drive. Read full review
70
Dallas ObserverJean Oppenheimer
Sails by on cute dialogue, some funny visual gags, and two enormously likable leads. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesCarina Chocano
Sweet and often hilarious. Read full review
67
Portland OregonianShawn Levy
This is Hollywood Hornby: not terrible, but not worth crossing a busy street for, and nowhere near as memorable as what the Sox did last year. Read full review
63
USA TodayMike Clark
By contrast, other Hornby screen adaptations are "About a Boy" and "High Fidelity"- superb comedies both and, in Fidelity's case, a treatise on male obsession with far more depth and even more laughs. Read full review
63
New York Daily NewsJami Bernard
Relationship comedy like this is mother's milk to Drew Barrymore, who, as usual, is adorable and perfect. Read full review
63
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Rick Groen
As a motion picture, Fever Pitch is merely competent. Read full review
60
The A.V. ClubScott Tobias
Barrymore has rarely been so bright and effortlessly charming, but it's all lost on Fallon, who often resembles one of those unfortunate SNL guests who freeze up on live TV, completely out of their element. If Fallon wants a life after SNL, he might want to try another medium. Read full review
60
The New York TimesManohla Dargis
Still, despite the visual clumsiness and the production's tattered seams, I found myself rooting for this movie anyway, partly because Lindsey and Ben make a nice fit, as do the actors playing them, partly because the Farrellys bring so much heart to their movies, and partly because Ms. Barrymore inspires more goodwill than any other young actress I can think of working today in American movies. Read full review
60
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
If you're rooting for Barrymore and Fallon, then why not their team? In the movies, there are enough happy endings for everyone. Read full review
60
Wall Street JournalJoe Morgenstern
For all its various failures, Fever Pitch taps expertly into our nostalgia for an era when baseball really was the American pastime, unsullied by money, drugs or celebrity.
60
Chicago ReaderJonathan Rosenbaum
To call this "Farrelly brothers lite" may be a little redundant, but aside from the odd vomit gag, it goes relatively easy on their usual working-class taboo busting. Read full review
60
SlateDavid Edelstein
I prefer the Farrellys when they're disreputable and push the boundaries of taste, because they're otherwise a tad sentimental. Read full review
60
The New YorkerDavid Denby
Has a slapdash feeling to it. Read full review
60
EmpireMiles Fielder
Not a Farrelly brothers classic, and (some testicle-washing aside) not much in the way of their trademark gross-out humour, but the boys from Boston do an admirable job of transferring Hornby's story into the States and onto the baseball diamond. Read full review
58
Seattle Post-IntelligencerWilliam Arnold
Passably entertaining. Read full review
50
Miami HeraldRene Rodriguez
Fever Pitch is surprisingly devoid of jokes, or romance, or any of the other basic elements you'd expect to find in a romantic comedy. The only thing the Farrellys get right is the obsession. Read full review
50
Rolling StonePeter Travers
The movie is so soggy and anonymous, I had to remind myself that the Farrelly brothers, Peter and Bobby, directed it. It's sad to watch the kingpins of gross-out try to dial down to cute. Swung at and missed. Read full review
50
New York PostLou Lumenick
Rarely have filmmakers had a more wildly improbable happy ending forced on them. Well, you need all the help you can get, divine or otherwise, when your two stars - Drew Barrymore and Jimmy Fallon - have no chemistry whatsoever. Read full review
50
PremiereAaron Hillis
One-dimensional fluff piece. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle
A romantic comedy that flirts with something serious but never gets past the flirting stage. Read full review
50
SalonStephanie Zacharek
Fever Pitch lacks that Farrelly spark, that warm, crazy glint. Read full review
50
Washington PostAnn Hornaday
If anything, Fever Pitch will give Bosox fans one more chance to relive, in big-screen glory, those fleeting, flavorsome days. Read full review
50
Village VoiceJ. Hoberman
But the ickiest thing about Fever Pitch is its reverential Field of Dreams music. Read full review
40
L.A. WeeklyScott Foundas
Unfunny, charmless and hopelessly ordinary. Read full review
40
Film ThreatPete Vonder Haar
Honestly, this movie would've worked a lot better had the Red Sox not won the World Series. Read full review
30
Washington PostDesson Thomson
It's almost too dull to pan. Read full review
20
Austin ChronicleMarc Savlov
Ultimately, it's a bore. Don't see the movie – read the book, play the game. Read full review
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