Patton Oswalt shines as a down-on- his luck fan that is so die hard, he puts his allegiance to his favorite team over his own life.

This movie is rated “R” for language and sexual themes and may be objectionable to some beyond those two reasons: the main character is a slothy man who still lives at home with his mother and only works hard to improve his “career” as a regular caller on New York sports talk radio.
  
(My spoiler free review)

I’ve been listening to a lot more sports talk on the radio than music in the last 2 years… and while a few discussions have had me considering calling in to comment, I ultimately never had but I’ve noticed that many of the callers seem to be rehearsed regulars that are scripting out what they’re going to say and competing with the other callers to see who makes the best point or has the best smack talk… another reason why I’m trending away from those call-in sports talk shows because most fit this bothersome description.

Paul “in Staten Island” Aufiero (Oswalt) is a hardcore New York Giants football fan that is the epitome of my description of sports talk.   So much so, its actually sad and tragic to watch… Oswalt is so convincing as this character that you pretty much forget he’s acting and just see this sorry character that he’s portraying.   The term “lovable loser” is used often in the media… but you couldn’t use the first part of that term to describe Oswalt’s character… he’s certainly a loser… but not lovable.   Sure you might feel sorry for his life and how misguided he is that the New York Football Giants are more important than his own health and well being… but his character is not someone you even really root for… its hard to like him and its even difficult to feel sorry for what happenens to him.

For all those reasons, Oswalt should at the very least be considered for an Oscar nomination this year.  He is the character he gives a career making performance and he is completely believable in the role.

“Big Fan” is a narrow, but sharply focused view of the sports world with a small cast of supporting characters that add to the story, but all of the performances (including a very convincing Marcia Jean Kurtz as his mom and the subtle Kevin Corrigan as his best friend) are overshadowed by Oswalt’s.

The movie chronicles what its like to be a maniacal, helplessly devoted fan… who lets his fandom get in the way of sound judgement… grappling with doing the right thing and making a decision that could/does negatively impact his beloved New York Giants.

THE BOTTOM LINE:

Eventhough he is ultimately unchanged by his circumstances… this movie is a great character study of a man who is more timid talking to girls than star athletes and the only place he fits in is on the air.  Despite living at home, he has tumultuos relationship with his mother who thinks his d-bag of a brother is more succesful in work and life.  I give it 8.5 out of 10. 

There are a lot of nice touches in “Big Fan” that football fans of all extremes can appreciate: Paul and Sal are mingling amoungst the tailgaters before one of the home games and they decide to take their seats… in chairs in the parking lot infront of a t.v.   Paul’s flashback scenes of the incident are like a highlight reel, honoring his favorite player.  At the end of the disappointing season that just ended – Paul and Sal talk about next season with high hopes. 

  “Big Fan”

(2009) (rated: R for language and some sexuality)
(1 hr, 26 min)

Starring: Patton Oswalt, Kevin Corrigan, Michael Rapaport, Marcia Jean Kurtz, Gino Cafarelli, Matt Servitto, Serafina Fiore, Polly Humphreys, Joe Garden, Jonathan Hamm, Sidné Anderson

Director/Writer: Robert D. Siegel  (writer: “The Wrestler” (2008), “The Onion Movie” (2008))

Genre: Comedy/Drama/Sports Fan/Football

The Plot: Paul Aufiero, a hardcore New York Giants football fan, struggles to deal with the consequences when he is beaten up by his favorite player.  

So what did you think?  Please post a comment!

“Big Fan” poster courtesy First Independent Pictures

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