Big Fan

Oswalt plays a guy you might call a loser, but his character wouldn't agree. He's not as over-the-top into loserdom as DiNiro in "King of Comedy." He's not delusional, in other words, just passionate. His team means more than anything to him, and if they are doing OK, he is content. In his world, he has status, and he's just not interested in anything outside that world.

I was surprised to see real acting going on, not comedy. (I won't say "just" comedy - that's hard as hell and takes real talent.) Nothing milked for laughs, nothing that broke the boundaries of the world of the story. A reviewer said Oswalt was "fearless", and I agree. William Goldman wrote of stars that you can never make their parts cool enough for them. That's why so many movies are so terrible. Oswalt has never seemed that interested in being cool. Instead, he dives into his character, as sympathetic or unsympathetic as the moment requires. Not a shtick: character.

It is a low budget production, but I felt it was adequate. The production values didn't hurt. And it is funny, just not 3 jokes / page of script.

Paul is in his mid-thirties, single, and still living at home with his mother. He works as a parking lot attendant in New York, and is content to sit in his booth at night writing down passionate, articulate rants, so that when he goes home he can call a local radio sports show and prove his fanaticism for the Giants, his favorite football team.

Paul is played by Patton Oswalt, one of the funniest stand-up comedians alive, and what he does in this film is really quite remarkable. He creates a fully convincing and pathetic loser, and is unafraid to reveal all the character's lowest points. If this were an Adam Sandler comedy we'd probably have scenes showing us how misunderstood and sweet Paul is, so we can understand that he's the one we're meant to root for, but Oswalt's Paul isn't so cleancut. He treats his family like crap and has terrible mood swings; he only seems truly happy when he's in his element: either witnessing a Giants win or ranting to strangers on the radio. The fact that he must write his speeches down beforehand, and preps himself for hours in advance of calling, says everything.

Paul gets in trouble when he spots a Giants quarterback at a gas station in a shady neighborhood and follows him into a NYC nightclub. After an awkward introduction, Paul makes the mistake of mentioning that he's been following the sports star and his entourage for the past few hours, and the drunken athlete reacts by beating him senseless. Three days later Paul is hospitalized and the police want his statement -- but he suddenly "can't remember" anything that happened, desperately hoping the Giants won't be forced to suspend their star athlete. But that's just the beginning of his problems.

Big Fan is the directorial debut of Robert D. Siegel, who wrote last year's sports-themed The Wrestler. Both movies concern the plights of apparent losers, the biggest difference being Mickey Rourke's 'Ram' actually had a life at one point, whereas Paul's existence is experienced vicariously. Everyone around him tries to offer a better life, whether it's jobs or moving into his own place, but he firmly rejects them. In Paul's eyes, this is his life. He is perfectly content to be discontent, and the movie's lack of transformation for its character will undoubtedly alienate some viewers.

And, put bluntly, Big Fan is not as strong or poignant as The Wrestler. Siegel is not as capable a director as Darren Aronofsky, and the story -- despite clocking in at under an hour and a half -- does tend to meander a few times. But it is endearingly bleak, honest and real, and kept afloat by Oswalt's fascinating performance, which is hard to shake off even after the credits are over.

Well Patton Oswalt is a funny guy. I like his comedy and he's got a unique personality. This film is not exactly funny. It's written by the guy who wrote The Wrestler and its similar to it in many ways. He also directs for the first time and it's like he just followed the same mood that Darron Aronofsky used. Here we got the guy who's a football nut calling into to a radio show to boost his ego because he lives with his mom, he has one friend he hangs out with and they go to watch football in the parking lot of the NY Giants because they can't afford to get in. He's the Big Fan of the quarterback of the Giants and calls in to the local radio show to talk trash about any team playing them. Especially the Philly Eagles. HE practices his calls while working his crappy job as a parking lot attendant. The film drags a bit and the highlight is when he confronts a Phillies fan with a grudge. He's a loser going nowhere. And that is his goal. As well as that of the film. Now, where the Wrestler told an underdog story about a guy trying to get back in the game after his life turns out bad and lonely. This film is about resisting any change no matter how sorry the situation. I so want to like Patton doing a dark comedy, a little more humor and some kind of character build would have helped and proved Patton can act. It fizzles away before I can even decide what to think about it.

"Big Fan" is an unpleasant movie about an extremely unpleasant man.

Patton Oswalt plays a dumpy 37-year-old loser who lives with his mother and spends his life living vicariously through the glories of the New York Giants. On a night out on the town, he and his buddy catch sight of their favorite player and follow him to a nightclub. When they approach him, a misunderstanding leads to Oswalt getting badly beaten by him. But he refuses to take legal action against him despite the admonishments of his family, because he'd rather see his favorite player able to lead his team to a win than seek remuneration for himself.

"Big Fan" starts out as a low-key comedy, but gradually picks up dark overtones and seems like it's going to take its audience to some uncomfortable places. Oswalt's character comes across as a schlubby but mostly decent guy at first, but as the movie progresses, we start to wonder if he might be mentally unhinged. However, a cop-out ending lurches the film back into uneasy dark comedy, and basically asks us to find Oswalt's character endearing even though he's been nothing but off putting.

The tone is all over the place, the comedy never really working. If the film had acknowledged that Oswalt's character is a loser, and made some kind of point about the fine line that begins to separate hobby from obsession, it might have been more interesting. But it instead asks us to take his side, and seems to take the stance that his obsession is just the healthy interest of your everyday man-child. The movie goes out of its way to make Oswalt's family into obnoxious caricatures, and we're not supposed to like them because they think he needs to get a life, but guess what....his family seemed to me to make a lot of sense.

Pretty much the definition of a misfire.

Grade: C

In his directorial debut, Robert Siegel shows that his true talent still lies in his writing. The tone of Big Fan feels very similar to Siegel's past writing venture, The Wrestler. In both films Siegel proves that he is able to craft a story that feels so rooted in the real world that at times it can feel as if you are simply a fly on the wall watching these events unfold. The only problem with this is that the real world can be boring, and without the direction of Darren Aronofsky to help bolster it, Big Fan occasionally slips into this category.

Big Fan follows the life of Paul Aufiero (Patton Oswalt), a devout New York Giants fan, and parking garage attendant. Paul plods along through his life, living with his mother (Marcia Jean Kurtz) in Staten Island, working nights at the parking garage, and finishing everyday by cranking one out before he falls asleep. We soon see that the only thing that Paul really cares about is football, or more specifically, the New York Giants. Paul meticulously crafts rants about why his Giants are "destined" for glory and calls in to a local late-night sports radio show where he is a known contributor and enemy of Philadelphia Eagles fan, Philadelphia Phil. Paul seems happy with this life and only asks that come Sunday he can put down another win for the Giants. Things then take a turn for Paul as a night out with his best friend Sal (Kevin Corrigan) results in a sighting of his favorite player Quantrell Bishop (Jonathan Hamm). The two follow Bishop through Staten Island eventually coming to a Manhattan strip club. In the club Paul finally builds up the guts to go over and talk to Bishop and in a drunken state Bishop misinterprets something Paul says and beats him to a pulp. The rest of the film follows Paul and his struggle to figure out his life as everyone around him tries to get him to sue, and imprison his hero, all while his Giants stumble and fall from their path to "destiny".

The acting in this film is its true saving grace. Oswalt proves that he is so much more than the voice of the rat in Ratatouille. He becomes Paul, leaving the audience completely convinced that the Giants truly are this man's reason for living. Also of note is Kevin Corrigan. Corrigan is continuing to be "that guy" in movies. He is probably best known as Eddie on TV series Grounded for Life, but he has also popped up in movies like True Romance, Goodfellas, The Departed, and more recently Superbad and Pineapple Express. The guy is a great actor and really deserves a lot more credit than he gets. With the character of Sal, he really is the only character to stick by Paul throughout the entire film, and he is completely believable the entire time. Not once is the audience left to wonder why Sal is supporting every decision Paul makes. Corrigan never makes us feel that he is just the token best friend in the movie. Sal supports Paul because that is who he is and we never doubt that. Corrigan truly deserves to get a lead role in a film so that he can really show people what he can do.

The comparisons between Big Fan and The Wrestler are unavoidable. Both were made on a small budget, take place in lower middle class urban neighborhoods, and deal with sports. Unfortunately for Siegel, where Aronofsky succeeded with The Wrestler, Big Fan seems to falter. The direction is not bad; it just causes the film to sag in spots. I was bored during some long stretches of the movie that made me feel like I was watching the most mundane moments of Paul's day. The visuals often leave something to be desired, making the viewer feel like the film was a few steps away from being great.

Big Fan manages to combine just the right amount of comedy in what is most definitely a drama. The acting is surprisingly good, with both Oswalt and Corrigan turning in great performances. Siegel shows us again that he is a great writer and has a gift when it comes to crafting believable real life dialogue. The direction causes the movie to be boring in some parts most likely due to this being Siegel's first outing. Even if you are not a football fan, which I am not, you will be able to enjoy this movie. And maybe next time you hear a crazed fan on a radio call-in show, you will feel a little differently.