In one charming romantic comedy, Jimmy Fallon plays a high school teacher whose obsession with a professional baseball team threatens to cost him his relationship with a work-obsessed business consultant (Drew Barrymore).

In another charming romantic comedy, Colin Firth plays a public school teacher whose obsession with a professional soccer team threatens to cost him his relationship with a work-obsessed teaching colleague (Ruth Gemmell).

For a change, the similarities are more than coincidental. Both movies are called "Fever Pitch," and both claim to be based on the best-selling, autobiographical novel of the same name by Nick Hornby, whose other works have been turned into the movies "High Fidelity" and "About a Boy."

But the earlier, British version that stars Firth (TriMark, 1997, R, $19.99) features a screenplay that was written by Hornby. The newer "Fever Pitch" was written by — or was at least credited to — veteran scripters Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel.

And it was directed by the Farrelly brothers, whose films are becoming softer and less crass as they go. They've Americanized Hornby's tale and changed the sports focus. While Hornby and Firth's character, Paul Ashworth, are fans of England's often-hapless Arsenal soccer team, Fallon's character, Ben Wrightman, is devoted to those once-lovable losers, the Boston Red Sox.

Having read the book, it's interesting to see how many things show up in both movie versions. And both certainly convey how it feels to root for a team that never seems to get over the championship hump — as well as how it feels when they finally do.

(As it turns out, the Red Sox's dramatic, come-from-behind American League Championship win over the New York Yankees and eventual World Series win last year forced the Farrellys to change at least part of their movie's ending.)

BUT IS IT WORTH A LOOK?

By the way, the earlier version of "Fever Pitch" stacks up favorably with the new one. It's a must-see for fans of Hornby's work, and it's certainly fun to compare the two movies.

But be warned, there's an early, VHS version of the movie out there with some of the most inappropriate cover art in recent memory. The photo shows a man staring at a topless woman who has a pair of soccer boots placed strategically.

Thankfully, for the subsequent DVD release the studio replaced that with a photo cover featuring Firth and Gemmell.

YEP, THAT'S HIM.

Those who decide to watch the 1997 version should keep an eye peeled for a brief but amusing cameo by Hornby, as a rival school soccer coach whose team loses to Firth's in rather spectacular fashion.

ON A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT — MUSIC-RELATED — NOTE: One of the songs on the soundtrack for the newer version of "Fever Pitch" is "Tessie," a cover of the beloved Broadway hit song by New England-based, pub-punk rockers the Dropkick Murphys.

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Though the Murphys' rollicking version — one of five songs on the "Tessie" CD EP (Epitaph, $4.98) — sounds more like a rousing soccer anthem, the song used to be sung by Fenway Park's Royal Rooters back when the Red Sox won the World Series on a semi-regular basis.

There are two versions of "Tessie" on the CD, a roughed-up one featuring the band's trademark, bagpipes-and-guitars attack, as well as an "old timey" one, sung a cappella. (Joining the Murphys for the choruses are Red Sox superstar outfielder Johnny Damon and pitchers Bronson Arroyo and Lenny DiNardo.)

Ironically, one of the other songs is "Fields of Athenry," an anthem about a Scottish soccer team. Go figure!


E-mail: jeff@desnews.com

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