Is there any other movie that demonstrates better what's it like to be football fan? I don't know you, but I still haven't come across. Is it possible that the low rating could be a result of supporters who don't like Arsenal?
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I cannot stand Arsenal but I do like this film. It is what any football fan goes through, so people can over the Arsenal theme because of that. Also, at the time, Liverpool were dominating things a bit and it was good to see Arsenal clinch the title in such a fashion.
I would hope people will see the whole story and not snub it just because of the Arse.
I'm a mad English bird and proud of it!!
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As you're a Rangers and not a Celtic fan, I will forgive your comment about Man U fans, as I am one (and not one of the glory hunting ones either! Liked them since the dark days of the mid 80s when I was a young whippersnapper). I think this film is a good reflection of genuine footie fans who follow their teams through the ups and downs.
I'm a mad English bird and proud of it!!
I've never seen the film, but I gave it 10 just on the fact that its about Arsenal. Arsenal #1, you know you love them.
shareI'm a Liverpool fan and watching Feverpitch is like kieeping myself in the nuts. Seeing how Liverpool chucked away the Championship and then brought the player who did them in...
That said, Feverpitch is a wonderful film and perfectly illustrates everything about football, and it has to be one of my favorite films.
Arsenal are big rivals with Tottenham Hotspur, which is why the man in the cafe tells Young paul, should he recognise a player in the street "Tell 'im to sod off to spurs...".
Am a Man Utd fan, and although this film would clearly be better if about my team, still think it's an excellent film (and book) which totally captures what being a football fan's like. Yes, yes, I can mentally note the people who are saying if I'm a MU fan I don't know what real football's like. Well I also regularly watch Oxford and Birmingham (ie my local teams) so I have some idea of what it's like not to be crowned in glory and money.
Perhaps it has to do with it being, among other things, a football-story. The recent US remake (why can't they enjoy anything foreign, by the way?) is about the vulgarized version of cricket known as baseball, as most Americans don't care about (or don't understand?) football.
Although I'm not British myself I'll have to say the movie appears to me as a very British movie. US-Americans, have problems with that. It does not fit to their narrow view of what is to be included in a movie and what is not. Just look at the wave of (dull) remakes of Asian extreme movies the last years!
(I do not say that all Americans are this way, but there must be a reason why so many Americans cannot enjoy anything foreign without adding their own culture to it - in movies as in other areas.)
This film was never even released in American theatres as far as I know, and whatever popularity it enjoys here now on DVD is due in large part to those of us who enjoy the work of actor Colin Firth. (Count me among them. He came to my notice when Pride and Prejudice was aired here, and I have been following his career and watching his films ever since.) Believe me, he is one thing foreign that this American lady can enjoy very well INDEED! He is yummy in the extreme, and never better looking than in this film, as the soccer-obsessed Paul Ashford.
It is really interesting that major league soccer has never really caught on here, but it is one of the most popular participatory sports for American schoolchildren. I saw Fever Pitch on cable TV several years ago, but found I needed absolute quiet in the house to understand the dialogue, real English accents being more difficult to decipher than the posh tones of Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet! The first couple of times I watched the DVD, I used the subtitle feature, and now, of course, after watching it over and over for the wonderful plot and performances (and ok, the eye candy that is Colin Firth), the subtitles are no longer necessary. (Hey, listen, I am a Nooooo Yawwwwwker, and you guys might well need subtitles to understand ME!)
I freely admit I would watch a film of Colin Firth sitting on a park bench feeding the pigeons for an hour, but Fever Pitch is a highly enjoyable and subtly funny film, Firth's contribution notwithstanding. Sports fanatacism is universal (speaking as an American "football widow" who decided to just give in and become a fan myself). Firth's portrayal is right on the mark, and I love the nuances of his performance, the kind, guileless man underneath the scruffy exterior.
Nah, the low rating is probably because this site is US-orientated, and most Americans don't like 'soccer'.
shareYou've got a good point dapiran. This film shows what it's like to be an obsessive football fan perfectly. There were a lot of moments (though admittedly not as many as in the book) when I thought 'yeah, I'm like that'. And I'm not an Arsenal fan, though being a Middlesbrough fan I don't have a reason to dislike Arsenal either. I guess I might not like the film as much if it were about a Newcastle fan though.
I think contemparydog is right about the ratings. Please correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't get the impression that Americans get quite so obsessive over their sports teams, at least not in the same way, as many English football fans do. I don't really know how to explain it, but it just seems to me to be a different mentality. That's just my opinion, I may be wrong, so don't hang me over it.