Farrelly flick misses fences

Baseball season is officially here and with it comes the aptly-timed flick "Fever Pitch." As directed by the Farrelly brothers (purveyors of the '90s glut of gross-out comedies, i.e. "Dumb and Dumber," "Kingpin" and "There's Something About Mary"), the film is an across-the-pond adaptation of British author Nick Hornby's ("High Fidelity," "About a Boy") semi-autobiographical book. The difference: in Hornby's memoir and its 1997 cinematic translation starring Colin Firth ("Bridget Jones's Diary") the protagonist is a high school English teacher and avid Arsenal booster; here he's Ben Wrightman (Jimmy Fallon), a high school math teacher and die-hard Boston Red Sox supporter. It's an appropriate switch, as the Brit soccer club makes its fans suffer nearly as much as the BoSox did until they won last fall's World Series -- ending an 86-year slump. \nBen is an all-around nice guy and a good catch for any gal seeking companionship. In "Pitch" she's Lindsey Meeks (Drew Barrymore), a successful businesswoman who initially denies Ben's affections, as he's out of her tax bracket. Realizing the error in her ways, she accepts a date with Ben, only to be stricken with food poisoning. Decent dude that he is, Ben cleans up after and takes care of her. Soon enough, they're in love. Little does she know, she's into "Winter Guy," who's sweet and sensitive. "Summer Guy" is an entirely different beast: replete with season tickets, an apartment resembling a Red Sox souvenir shop, a wardrobe that's more jerseys than J. Crew and priorities in which spring training and a home game against the Seattle Mariners take precedence over visiting her parents and Paris. Before you can say "Bill Buckner," Ben blows the relationship amid his fandom. This being a romantic comedy, you can guess what happens next.\nAddressing the whole romantic comedy issue, "Pitch" is a change of pace for the Farrelly brothers. While they often bridge humor with heart, and "Mary" and "Shallow Hal" could be considered romantic comedies (albeit a twisted one in the former's case), they've never tackled the genre with such earnestness. Gone are many of the lewd laughs of their former works -- save for a gonad-grooming gag and some physical comedy involving women getting hit in the head with balls (sports-related, mind you). This results in one of the Farrelly's least funny flicks. The first half-hour is horrendous, chock-a-block with conventional crap. Luckily, things pick up considerably when Ben's Red Sox fixation comes to the forefront. Also, screenwriting team Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel ("Parenthood," "City Slickers") couldn't have written a better ending than the one fate wrote for them. \nBarrymore, who I generally don't dig, is effervescently adorable in the pic -- almost equalling her career-topping turn in "The Wedding Singer." Fallon is also likable, even though he's no great shakes either. He's seemingly made a career out of wanting to be Adam Sandler, what with the comedic crooning and going so far as impersonating the Sand-man on "Saturday Night Live," now he essentially is him by teaming with Barrymore for a romantic comedy. I'll say this for Fallon, his boyishness knows no bounds, and it's apropos for the role. It's also funny to see Fallon play another Sox fan after having done so on a series of "SNL" skits. Long story short: the pair is appealing enough for audiences to root for their relationship.\nHornby captures the minds of men struggling to grow up better than anyone else, so it's ironic that the Farrelly's continue their maturation process by adapting one of his works.