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Movies / On DVD / Big Fan
Big Fan

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Big Fan (2009)

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Reviews Counted:76

Fresh:66

Rotten:10

Average Rating:7.1/10

Consensus: Featuring Patton Oswalt's sympathetic portrayal, Big Fan humorously and effectively captures the dark and lonely world of a sports fanatic.

Genre: Dramas

Synopsis: Paul Aufiero, a 35-year-old parking-garage attendant from Staten Island, is the self-described "world's biggest New York Giants fan". He lives at home with his mother, spending his off hours... Paul Aufiero, a 35-year-old parking-garage attendant from Staten Island, is the self-described "world's biggest New York Giants fan". He lives at home with his mother, spending his off hours calling in to local sports-radio station 760 The Zone, where he rants in support of his beloved team, often against his mysterious on-air rival, Eagles fan Philadelphia Phil. His family berates him for doing nothing with his life, but they don't understand the depth of his love of the Giants or the responsibility his fandom carries.

One night, Paul and his best friend Sal spot Giants star linebacker Quantrell Bishop at a gas station in their neighborhood. They impulsively follow his limo into Manhattan, to a strip club, where they hang in the background, agog at their hero. Paul cautiously decides to approach him, stepping into the rarefied air of football stardom--and things do not go as planned.

The fallout of this chance encounter brings Paul's world crashing down around him as his family, the team, the media and the authorities engage in a tug of war over Paul, testing his allegiances and calling into question everything he believes in. Meanwhile, the Giants march toward a late-season showdown with the Eagles, unaware that sometimes the most brutal struggles take place far from the field of play.

Following up his first filmed screenplay, THE WRESTLER, writer-director Robert Siegel once again demonstrates a unique and potent vision of the human experience, in all of it its harsh truths and hopeful humanity. --© First Independent Films [More]

Starring: Patton Oswalt, Kevin Corrigan, Michael Rapaport, Marcia Jean Kurtz

Starring: Patton Oswalt, Kevin Corrigan, Michael Rapaport, Marcia Jean Kurtz, Matt Servitto, Serafina Fiore, Gino Cafarelli, Jonathan Hamm, Polly Humphreys, Scott Ferrall

Director: Robert Siegel

Director: Robert Siegel
Screenwriter: Robert Siegel
Producer: Jean Kouremetis, Elan Bogarin
Composer: Philip Watts
Studio: First Independent Pictures

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Reviews for Big Fan

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1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 >> >|
Arrange By:Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 

An odd mixture of "Marty" and "The Cabdriver", best when it focuses on the Marty side of the equation.

Full Review Source: rec.arts.movies.reviews | comment Comment
12/07/09
Louis Proyect
Louis Proyect
rec.arts.movies.reviews

Big Fan is wonderfully written, cliche-free and fully capable of surprising you.

Full Review Source: Jam! Movies | comment Comment
12/04/09
Liz Braun
Liz Braun
Jam! Movies

Paul is a sad figure, but the edge is taken off this by his single-minded (some would say dim-witted) devotion to the Giants.

Full Review Source: Laramie Movie Scope | comment Comment
12/04/09
Robert Roten
Robert Roten
Laramie Movie Scope

First-time director Siegel shows promise. His script is solid, and although the last act feels somewhat awkward, the idea is clever.

Full Review Source: Toronto Star | comment Comment
11/29/09
Linda Barnard
Linda Barnard
Toronto Star

...the movie boasts a rough visual sensibility that's mirrored in both the performances and the meandering narrative...

Full Review Source: Reel Film Reviews | comment Comment
11/29/09
David Nusair
David Nusair
Reel Film Reviews

We're stuck on the ledge, waiting to see if Paul will jump. Painful, but good.

Full Review Source: The Scorecard Review | comment Comment
11/28/09
Jeff Bayer
Jeff Bayer
The Scorecard Review

Writer-director Robert D. Siegel grew up listening to callers like Paul on The FAN, New York City's all-sports radio, and he gives us a bizarrely sympathetic portrait of a guy who is as devout and as obsessive as any religious fanatic.

Full Review Source: Film.com | comment Comment
11/22/09
Jonathan F. Richards
Jonathan F. Richards
Film.com

What makes Paul fascinating isn't how pathetic he is. It's how dignified he thinks he is, and how that knit blue cap with "NY" on the front gives his life meaning.

Full Review Source: Capital Times (Madison, WI) | comment Comment
11/13/09
Rob Thomas
Rob Thomas
Capital Times (Madison, WI)

Screenwriter Siegel, directing his first film, lavishes as much attention on forty-year-old virgin Paul as he did on "Randy the Ram" in The Wrestler.

Full Review Source: East Bay Express | comment Comment
10/23/09
Kelly Vance
Kelly Vance
East Bay Express

It's a classic situation, transplanted to a small, petty arena. When I think of this movie, I think of Oswalt, how his anguish feels real (whether we understand it or not) and how his face unaccountably becomes an offbeat locus of dignity.

Full Review Source: San Francisco Chronicle | comment Comment
10/23/09
Mick LaSalle
Mick LaSalle
San Francisco Chronicle

...Siegel seems more interested in exhibiting Paul as a not-so-rare species of delusional male thwartedness than granting him an interior life, but it's still a powerful and interesting bit of sociology.

Full Review Source: Arkansas Democrat-Gazette | comment Comment
10/18/09
Philip Martin
Philip Martin
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

A Strong, Tightly-Wound Character Study That Suffers Minimally From Its 1st-Time Director.

Full Review Source: Film Snobs | comment Comment
10/11/09
Jimmy O
Jimmy O
Film Snobs

Cliched New York type of creepy/funny film that might only appeal to the male sports fan.

Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews | comment Comment
10/08/09
Dennis Schwartz
Dennis Schwartz
Ozus' World Movie Reviews

Though not without its problems, it is not a film that's easy to forget about, nor do its questions all answer themselves at once.

Full Review Source: Antagony & Ecstasy | comment Comment
10/07/09
Tim Brayton
Tim Brayton
Antagony & Ecstasy

Big Fan stretches credulity in spots, but for the most part, it manages to keep its eye on the ball.

Full Review Source: Creative Loafing | comment Comment
10/05/09
Matt Brunson
Matt Brunson
Creative Loafing

Though the movie isn’t much to look at, he gets a credibly dark and pathetic performance from the typically comic Oswalt.

Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | comment Comment
10/02/09
J. R. Jones
J. R. Jones
Chicago Reader

Oswalt's performance alone makes Big Fan worth seeing.

Full Review Source: Movie Retriever | comment Comment
10/02/09
Brian Tallerico
Brian Tallerico
Movie Retriever

Siegel takes us to the brink of operatic melodrama, then lands us in a tragicomic spot: a psychological landscape of alternate life and make-believe death.

Full Review Source: Baltimore Sun | comment Comment
10/02/09
Michael Sragow
Michael Sragow
Baltimore Sun

Wrings pain out of heartbreaking truths, and steamrolls to an unpredictable conclusion that's suspenseful, mildly coincidental, but gut-wrenchingly sad.

Full Review Source: Charlotte Weekly | comment Comment
10/02/09
Sean O'Connell
Sean O'Connell
Charlotte Weekly

Engaging truth: You may need your favorite team more than it needs you.

Full Review Source: Metromix.com | comment Comment
10/01/09
Matt Pais
Matt Pais
Metromix.com
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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Latest News for Big Fan

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