July 11, 2008
"Why is it that adults aren't supposed to go mad about anything? You gotta keep a lid on it. And if you don't then people are apparently entitled to say what they like. «You haven't grown up. You're a moron. Your conversation is trivial and boorish. You can't express your emot...( read more)ional needs. You can't relate to your children.» And you die, lonely and miserable. But you know, what the hell, every cloud has a silver lining."
Why is it that obsession makes such fine cinema? What is it that audiences love about observing strangers pursue their needs to the point of self-destruction? Throughout this century of film, and before in other media, we've thrilled to traps of the mind, glad that it's them and not us. Just bear witness to the tragedy of Othello, a man who loves too much, fatally weakened by doubt. How about Shelley's warped scientist Frankenstein, driven to push back the frontiers of knowledge at mortal risk? In the South American jungle, Werner Herzog drove his cast to the edge of the abyss in creating Aguirre: The Wrath of God. Quite ironic, given the storyline. Yet for all of this, where are the cuddly obsessives, folk with human-scale preoccupations?
Well one of them lives in Fever Pitch, a film based on a novel about a game called football. This is a sport that drives grown men to tears and grown women to distraction, ripping relationships apart while forging bonds on the terrace. For some nothing else in life matters, everything that they do is designed to leave them time spare to watch, play and argue about football. Outsider Paul Ashworth (Colin Firth) is a perfect example of the species. He teaches English to unruly students but prefers to coach the school squad, dreaming of success via their immature talent. As a season ticket holder with Arsenal, Paul knows that his chosen team are much less likely to top out the league so his sights are set substantially lower. Yet by looking at this unkempt exterior, new teacher Sarah Hughes (Ruth Gemmell) misses the point.
Paul's love for Arsenal takes root in early childhood, against all the odds. Living with his mother (Lorraine Ashbourne) in Maidenhead, far from the roar of the crowds, Paul catches his first game in the company of an often-absent father (Neil Pearson). A moment of epiphany. Swept along in the mob emotion, lifted by glory, crushed by torsos, Paul connects. This is why, eighteen years later, he lives and dies by the flick of a boot and the dodgy ruling of an obviously blind linesman. This is the strength of Nick Hornby's novel, the basis of its broad appeal to the unwashed masses. His writing mirrors the experience of a million kids; that desperate wish to kick a few balls about on the hallowed turf of Wembley and the transferral of that dream to your chosen team. So moving is Hornby's fiction that even the non-fan can buy into his fantasy.
David Evans, the director of Fever Pitch, grasps this opportunity with alacrity. In his hands the story shines with a fan's unwavering enthusiasm, even as the wisdom of their passion is questioned and doubted. The settings are notably pedestrian and the dialogue is intentionally ordinary, for the very good reason that this is exactly the routine by which most people live. Hornby's brilliance is that he can write scenes which precisely replay the typical male conversation; the actions and reactions are coarse and stumbling yet they posses a functional, rough poetry. Paul and his best mate Steve (Mark Strong) spend endless hours analysing, and agonising over, the fluctuating fortunes of Arsenal. With snatches of historic matches artfully woven into the film, Evans gives us the flavour of their devotion.
The cast members do their very best with the script and, mostly, succeed in papering over the joins. Firth proves fully able to take on the form of Paul, a man whose mind is permanently elsewhere; usually he's listening to radio commentary, sometimes just replaying old goals. Paul really only pays attention when the subject turns to football. Strong is adequate as second fiddle, though we never get to know him in any depth. Gemmell's the one who matters, since her arrival leads us into this epic struggle of love and misunderstanding, gives us two people separated by a simple game. Her acting is delightfully nuanced, sweeping across the full spectrum of feeling. It's a pity then that Fever Pitch seems to wrap up too easily, turning out a finale which is structurally satisfying but otherwise a bit of a con.
So, will Fever Pitch appeal to someone who cares nothing for football? Yes, if only because the story isn't actually about football, it's about the fans that adore it. Clips of real-life matches are sprinkled liberally throughout the film but fortunately they form a greatest hits collection of neat passes and inspired goals. The experience is nowhere near as thrilling and unpredictable as watching an entire 90-minute match, and the fact that this is a thoroughly English tale will certainly put some people off and make 99% of American audiences choose the Drew Barrymore remake. But then they'll miss one of the few recent films to delve into the heart of what it truly means to be born and bred in Britain and, on a larger scale, Europe.
Paul's Dad: "Look, we don't have to go to Arsenal every time I'm in London, do we? I thought we'd be beyond that stage now.
Young Paul: We'll never be beyond that stage."
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