Fever Pitch

Paul Ashworth is an English teacher whose life revolves around Arsenal, the London football club he has followed since childhood. His devotion borders on obsession, and it shapes his moods, his weekends and his sense of who he is. When he becomes involved with Sarah, a colleague who has no interest in the sport and sees his fixation as a waste of time, he has to work out how the relationship and the club can both fit into his life. The film follows the two of them as Arsenal's league campaign unfolds, with Paul's loyalties pulled in different directions.

Nick Hornby adapted his own autobiographical book for the screen, and David Evans directed. It was Evans's first cinema feature after working in theatre and television, and he keeps the focus on the characters rather than on match action, using only brief commentary and school games. Colin Firth plays Paul, with Ruth Gemmell as Sarah, and Mark Strong, Holly Aird, Ken Stott and Stephen Rea among the supporting cast. Around thirty actors and sixty crew members are credited.

Released in 1997, the film drew modest scores: on IMDb it holds 6.7 from roughly 12,000 votes, while on TMDB it sits at 6.4 from about 270 votes. A critics' rating of 6.2 from 16 reviews places it close to the audience response rather than sharply apart from it.