
The Patton Oswalt-starring Big Fan recently marked its 15th anniversary with a new Blu-ray reprinting from Shout! Studios. Unless I’m mistaken, the film was originally released on Blu-ray back in 2017.
A few months after the release of The Wrestler, writer-director Robert D. Siegel broke through with Big Fan at Sundance. Despite his previous work with The Onion, this film is not a comedy. It balances the fine line between comedy and drama and a lot of WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!? remarks at the screen. I mean that in all sincerity. Even though I’ve heard of this film for a number of years, it took the new Blu-ray printing to finally get me to watch it.
Staten Island parking garage attendant Paul Aufiero (Patton Oswalt) is a big fan of the New York Giants and still lives at home with his mother. He spends his late nights calling into a local sports talk radio show, talking up his beloved Giants and lambasting Philadelphia Phil (Michael Rapaport). One night while Paul and best friend Sal (Kevin Corrigan) are eating pizza–there’s a nice diss at pineapple pizza and rightfully so because it should be declared illegal–the duo spot Giants linebacker Quantrell Bishop (Jonathan Hamm). While most people would probably just let Bishop be, Paul is not most people. In fact, Sal should have had some common sense but nope, he only enabled Paul in making one of the worst decisions of their lives. They get into the car and then stupidly follow Bishop to a drug deal in Stapleton and then–again, foolishly–to a strip club in Manhattan.
I know what you’re thinking. Why?!? Or maybe, some other phrases that might include certain four-letter words. They are not the brightest people in the world! Anyway, once inside the Manhattan club, they decide to buy Bishop a drink. Of course, this isn’t all. They decide to walk over and say hi with Paul mentioning that they saw them in Stapleton. The duo should have stopped themselves after saying they were big fans. Better yet, they could have just let Bishop be. Time, manner, place, am I right? Instead, Paul keeps yapping away, only to end up being brutally attacked by the football star. Paul ends up in the hospital but being a big fan, he refuses to press charges or file a lawsuit. He just wants the whole thing to go away, claiming it to be a misunderstanding.
A violent football player should not get away with the crime but Paul does not care. He chews out his brother, Jeff, for filing a $77 million lawsuit. Paul plays dumb with Detective Velardi (Matt Servitto), claiming amnesia. In a case of even more stupidity on Paul’s part, he drives to Philly with a goal of assaulting Phil and ends up in prison. He might be a big fan but he puts the interest of the team ahead of his own.
Patton Oswalt is simply phenomenal in the film. The way that he portrays Paul lends some empathy to a character that we really shouldn’t feel sorry for. After all, Paul brings his problems on himself. In another universe, Adam Sandler could have delivered one of his best performances but he didn’t take the part. Oswalt might not be a sports fan but you wouldn’t know it from watching the film. He comes off like the average Joe in calling into sports talk radio shows. Maybe it is a case of not getting the NFL’s permission but we only ever see Paul and Sal sitting outside of Giants Stadium, never inside.
There are some factual errors in the film that should have been caught ahead of time. For one, the last Monday night game is never during the end of the season because of the playoffs. It is always during the penultimate week of the season. Furthermore, they even get some of the scheduling wrong. The schedule at the end of the film shows 14 games but the dialogue suggests sixteen games. Furthermore, the film features errors in how the NFL does its scheduling. All in all, the errors do not detract much from the film. They just might drive sticklers up a wall.
Fifteen years later, Big Fan might show its age in some ways but it still holds up with a phenomenal Patton Oswalt performance.
DIRECTOR/SCREENWRITER: Robert D. Siegel
CAST: Patton Oswalt, Kevin Corrigan, Marcia Jean Kurtz, Matt Servitto, Gino Cafarelli, Serafina Fiore, Joe Garden, Polly Humphreys, Scott Ferrall, Jonathan Hamm, and Michael Rapaport
First Independent Pictures released Big Fan in theaters on August 28, 2009. Grade: 4/5
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