What a waste of my time!!!

ridiculous rating

one of my absolute favorites!

Clever and entertaining enough to recommend even to members of the 1%

I'd heard a lot of good things about this movie but it didn't really do much for me, it was just okay. Sure it was funny and cute and heartwarming but I think I was expecting more humour as this is described as a "romantic comedy" and it was actually kind of sad.We follow Paul Ashworth (Colin Firth), who uses Arsenal to fill his life starting (through flashbacks)as a lonely young boy. He continues his obsession into adulthood, using the team as an emotional anchor and basing his whole life (and moods) on how well the team is playing. His new girlfriend doesn't get it, I mean it's just a game! Arsenal takes on a life of its own though, its the third person in the relationship, its an obsession, its a metaphor for life and sadly Arsenal keeps losing. (Maple Leafs anyone). On one level I could totally relate to Paul's character as a Canadian we're all about the hockey, its what we talk about and it rules everything.As okay as this movie was it was still 100% better than the American baseball remake which I didn't even make it all the way through. I will have to make a point of reading Nick Hornby's book. 05.13

Some years ago I read (and liked) the book "Fever Pitch" by Nick Hornby (High Fidelity, About a Boy), which was a collection of autobiographical anecdotes about his long lasting support of Arsenal, from 1968 when he become a fan until 1989, the year the Gunners won the First Division after almost 20 years.The movie decides to eschew the book approach and fictionalizes the story as a sort of romantic comedy in which supposed opposites attract. It's 1989, and Colin Firth is Paul (Hornby's alter ego) a teacher at a school in London, and the movie is about his burgeoning romance with Sarah Hughes (Ruth Gemmell), a new teacher at the school. As their relationship develops, Paul seems sometimes more concerned about Arsenal's standing in the championship and the increasing likelihood that it will finally win the league. This to the dismay of Sarah, who hates football and is very uptight. Intercalated with these scenes, we see Paul as a young kid in the late 1960s, his relationship with his divorced father, and how he initially become an Arsenal fan.One problem with the movie is that we never know what Sarah saw in Paul, since she is critical of him from the start (the first time they talk in the movie, she protests the noise his students are making in the classroom next to her own class). Their chemistry is basically zero. Of course, this is not the fault of either Firth or Gemmell (their acting is fine). It's the script that in my view took a wrong approach.

Often alluded to as ' The Beautiful Game', that famous night in May 1989 exemplifies exactly why football is worthy of such an endearing nickname. And I'm not only talking on the level of how, against all odds, the resilient Arsenal snatched the title from the mighty Liverpool with practically the last kick of the season; Nor only on the level of the soaring emotional significance of that night for the losing team and their fans, who hoped to dedicate their almost-certain-victory to the 90 Liverpool fans crushed to death just a month earlier in football's most horrific tragedy; and neither on the level that the game's ball-for-ball account was delivered by one of the greatest commentators in living memory , Mr Football himself Brian Moore (R.I.P.) in which he produced one of the most famous lines in sporting history 'It's up for grabs now!'. In the light of the movie being discussed I'm going to speak on level that will further emphasise Hornby's point on fanatism and how ridiculously far some of us will take it. Yes, the championship decider between Liverpool and Arsenal had all of the above and more, but the very first thing that springs to my mind with its every mention is its aesthetics. In my opinion that night showcased 2 of the most (for lack of a better word) stunning kits to ever grace a football pitch. Both adorned with the famous 3 Adidas stripes down the sides and the old-school leaf; Liverpool in flaming all red sporting the cursive 'Candy' logo across the front in white, Arsenal in banana yellow with dark navy almost black sleeves and shorts with the neat 'JVC' logo printed on the front. I'm not sure which one I preferred but if I was to take this even further and look at the game on a metaphorical level as the 'Battle of the Shirts', I think Arsenal shaded it …just! Forget Football Factory and Greenstreet Hooligans. For all you non-football fans who wish to learn more about REAL supporters and their so-called idiosyncratic passion for their team, watch this movie. But bear in mind, as good as it is, it barely combs the fringes of Nick Hornby's more elaborate hilariously witty novel .I also recommend that you watch the last 5 minutes of the Liverpool-Arsenal championship decider of 1989. Trust me, it surpasses any Hollywood script on all levels; audio, visual, dramatic, emotional.… Fever Pitch!

The biggest problem with this film is that an opportunity was missed to comedically exploit football-fan fanaticism. Instead, sport-fanaticism is taken far too seriously, considering what it really is, and although there is some humour at its expense, there wasn't enough of it. Somehow too much time is spent on soppy relationship nonsense, which goes nowhere. Still, the film isn't boring, and occasionally provides amusing insight into the world of the mindless football fan. The ending, with the main character desperately trying not to watch a championship match and being totally negative, is quite amusing, and there should have been more of that.