DVD: The Best Colin Firth Performance You've Probably Never Seen

As awards season kicks into high, and pundits and audiences alike unpack their adjectives to describe Colin Firth's performance in The King's Speech, it seemed like the right time to mention one of his wonderfully charming and funny turns that was barely seen in this country -- his starring role in Fever Pitch (out of print on DVD but available from Netflix). No, not the Drew Barrymore/Jimmy Fallon Fever Pitch, although both films were based on the same novel.

Firth starred in the first adaptation of Nick Hornby's book -- the one time that Hornby has adapted his own work for the screen -- a British comedy from 1997 that got scant theatrical distribution in this country. (It didn't help that the original US DVD had a cheesy cover, complete with naked lady with soccer cleats covering her boobies, that made it look like a mindless T&A flick.)

The film tells the story of Paul Ashworth (Firth), a teacher who's spent much of his life obsessing over the flagging fortunes of Arsenal, his favorite football club. When he finally meets the girl of his dreams, he's got to figure out how to balance a relationship with the original love of his life.

I've never been a sports person; I don't follow any teams, and with the exception of watching Spain in the World Cup -- nationalism got the best of me -- I rarely ever even watch sports on TV. But this version of Fever Pitch finally clued me in to what it is that so many people get out of sports fandom, and why the ups and downs of a favorite team can mean so much to fans.

This is a somewhat more blue-collar Firth than we get in films like Bridget Jones' Diary, Love Actually, or A Single Man, but he makes Paul a character we care about and follow even when his obsession with Arsenal threatens to upend his personal life. And Fever Pitch is a movie that absolutely bears seeking out as a nifty little buried treasure.