Fever Pitch

Hilariously bad, '80s-era "comedy"(?) and the last feature from acclaimed director Brooks, Fever Pitch is one of those artifacts of the Reagan era that must be seen to be believed.

Did you know that gambling is happening in some of our nation's cities...including Las Vegas?! Apparently hard-hitting sports reporter Steve Taggart (played over-earnestly by Ryan O'Neal) just got the news and he's going to blow the cover off this billion dollar industry and put the system on trial. That is, if he can outrun the dangerous bookies he's in debt to all the while nursing a serious case of compulsive gambling addiction.

Asinine dialog, ham-fisted characterizations and a tone-deaf approach to the entire proceedings make Fever Pitch a must-see for connoisseurs of bad movies. Is it a drama? Is it a comedy? Frankly FP has elements of both along with "stylized" (read: bad) editing that essentially creates faded out jump cuts in every scene. A mishandled subplot involving Taggart's daughter and the most ridiculous car wreck flashback in cinema history all combine to create a jaw-dropping movie experience that heaps absurdities on top of absurdities until the laughable, out-of-nowhere ending.

Roger Ebert called it a "sick" film. And it totally is! Recommended if you can find it.

I knew Rafael when he made this film in 1985. He was a terrific actor and wonderful human being. He told me personally that Richard Brooks punched him in the stomach because he didn't like one of the takes that Rafael had done. (I'd heard rumors from other people that Brooks was a notoriously difficult director to work for). The problem was Rafael was punched so hard, he couldn't return to work. He didn't tell anyone about it, but was in so much pain from the punch, he went to see a Doctor - they did exploratory surgery to find out that Rafael was suffering from stomach cancer. He died not much longer after the incident (another film of his came out later), but he told me this story from his hospital bed. I mention it all these years later (Brooks died in 79) because its an awful story about an abusive film director - but the truth always comes out, even if it's only 25 years later. Rafael; RIP.

From the Thomas Dolby music that kicks it off--an eighties synthesizer dweeb's variant on Rat Pack swagger--through the many gratuitous jumbo-cleavage shots, from the super-surly acting-against-type of arch villain Chad Everett to the climax, which involves Ryan O'Neal rolling around in a garbage can full of mustard, this picture suggests that the very respectable director Richard Brooks, in his waning phase, was a couple of Schlitzes shy of a six pack. (For a double bill of wackness, put this on after Brooks' homage to Sean Connery's toupee, WRONG IS RIGHT.) The thing you'll take away from this film, aside from Catherine Hicks' attempts not to appear embarrassed in the role of Ho with Heart of Gold, is that insane Dolby score, which suggests the fanfare that would greet Jack Klugman as he impresses the nanas by cleaning up at an old-age home's craps game.

I worked in the casting office of Fever Pitch. To back up the one review, yes Richard Brooks did punch Rafael Campos in the stomach on the set. We were shocked that such a thing had happened and Rafael was out for a while recovering. The film seemed to have great promise and the script from what I remember was good. You never know how a film will turn out from the script. This one didn't fare so well..I was sent to the set to help Richard fir a day as his assistant was ill. He was nice to me but was an jerk to orhers.

When Rafael passed away a year later from stomach cancer, we wondered if the punch that Richard Brooks threw at him at somehow caused his death. I guess we will never know.

And channeling Samuel Fuller, this is one of those movies (like the Oscar) so wrong that it is awfully, hilariously right. Brooks' sensibility must have been faltering because he flashed back to the 50s (traveling montages, "exposes" of sensational subjects, Chad Everett!) and flopped this sizzling cinematic spectacle into theaters across America! Where I saw it originally. I have had to revisit it a few times just to make sure it was for real. And now it's not available! And where's The Oscar? Which starred Steven Boyd and Tony Bennett in the film role that kept him out of the movies for decades. But seriously, Fever Pitch is a last gasp effort from a filmmaker too tired to pucker up anymore.