20th Anniversary TLDR: Fever Pitch (2005)
You love the Sox, but have they ever loved you back?
Plot: When Ben Wrightman, a young teacher, begins dating pretty businesswoman Lindsey Meeks, the two don't seem to have a lot of the same interests, but they fall in love, regardless. Their romance goes well until baseball season begins, and Lindsey soon realizes that Ben is completely obsessed with the Boston Red Sox. Though she tries to understand Ben's passionate team loyalty, eventually it threatens to end their otherwise happy relationship.
Direction: The Farrelly Brothers have had some hits and some real stinkers, but I think this is easily their best movie. Is that because it stars two adorable people and half of it takes place in Fenway Park? Yes!
Screenplay: Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel (what names) understand perfectly what it's like to be a baseball fan during the season and during the offseason. It's quite easy to be two different people. Their screenplay is based on Nick Hornby's 1992 football (soccer!) book (and the 1997 film adaptation) and I'm so happy they made it a baseball movie. Baseball is the best.
Performances: I'm not going to pretend like Jimmy Fallon and Drew Barrymore are the best actors, but they are so damn cute together in this movie. It relies totally on their charm and they have plenty of it. I wish they had made a dozen movies together.
Best Moment: The ending, because it's the best moment in Red Sox history.
Fun Fact: When we had to prematurely end The Drew Barrymore-a-thon, this was the movie I was most disappointed to miss out on.
Imaginary Accolade: Luckiest Film of 2005 (When Jimmy says, "This is the year," well, Red Sox fans said that every year. But it actually was the year.)
Everything is too long! Is it too long? 104 minutes seems long for a comedy, but this has just enough actual plot to make it work.
Ranking Boston Red Sox Movies/Shows: The Comeback: 2004 Boston Red Sox (2025), Fever Pitch (2005), 30 for 30: Four Nights in October (2010), Queer Eye for the Red Sox (2005)
Rating: I love this movie. Happy Opening Day!
Credit: Plot synopsis from Letterboxd via TMDb.