SpuffyWeb Sadly Over-hyped

Gurlyndrobb While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

filippaberry84 I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Lucia Ayala It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

O2D I never knew this movie existed until Howard Stern mentioned it on his show last week. I'm glad he did because this was a good movie. Patton Oswalt is once again type-cast as the geeky guy who lives with his mom except this time he's a huge football fan. Michael Rappaport basically just plays himself, a mean spirited jerk, and Kevin Corrigan is once again type-cast as the barely noticeable, somewhat supportive best friend. Despite the three main actors not stretching at all for this movie, it still works somehow. Though I must say that Satan from Your Pretty Face Is Going To Hell was disappointing as the police detective. This is definitely a movie you should see.

Dan Franzen (dfranzen70) What a poetically sad movie! Patton Oswalt is just amazing and sincere as a sad-sack loser who happens to be a HUGE FAN of the New York Football Giants. So much so that he and his pal Sal watch the games on an old TV in the stadium parking lot - presumably for the ambiance - rather than at home.When the guys run into the team's star linebacker, they follow him surreptitiously - which leads to a cringe-worthy confrontation and, ultimately, Patton's Paul being beaten very badly. Now he's in an unenviable position: he can press charges, partly for the money and partly to teach these "thug athletes" (term from movie) a lesson, or he can let things go so that the Giants don't suffer as a team. This is a die-hard fan right here.His family thinks it's not a tough decision. His local-celebrity brother, a personal-injury lawyer, certainly wants Paul to sue. His mom wants him out of the house (yes, he lives with his mom). But Paul feels a strange, strong loyalty to the player and the team, despite his severe injuries.Oswalt is really amazing here. He's not funny. He's never funny. He's just the epitome of pathetic, and Oswalt's portrayal is as authentic as they come. There's so much to him as a character that the ending is an interesting surprise, too.There's no on-field football action, so if you're looking for sportsing, you're out of luck. This is a character study, and is an exquisitely detailed one. A fine, if somber, movie.

Sankari_Suomi This amusing black comedy about the chronic health problems of overweight Jewish football supporters in the USA stars Patton Oswalt in a role better suited to Ben Affleck.A subplot about alcohol fueled violence amongst African Americans shows a white Jewish man being savagely beaten by a powerfully built black athlete. While not related to the main story, it provides an interesting diversion and raises challenging questions about the problem of race relations in postmodern America.Neville Gorman turned down a role in the final bar scene ('Man with Budweiser') due to scheduling conflicts. The part was eventually given to Tierra del Fuego, marking his début as a Hollywood extra.'Big Fan' starts strong, falls over in the middle and struggles gamely to the end, where it is sadly let down by a predictable anticlimax.I rate 'Big Fan' at 16.65 on the Haglee Scale, which works out as a solid 5/10 on IMDb.

hulu37 Robert D. Siegel's Big Fan is an engrossing look into a die-hard sports fan. It's completely engaging and tragic and uplifting all at once.Paul from Staten Island lives in boxes. He's a parking garage attendant. He lives with his mother. He has one friend. He has one obsession: Giants' football (though he won't dare step foot inside Giants stadium – real fans watch from the parking lot while tailgating). He's got one hobby: calling into a sports radio station. A meticulous hobby, he doesn't just call in. He writes down what he'll say, rehearses it out loud before he calls in and after he "nails it," he casually tells his friend that he was just wingin' it.Paul won't take your pity; he chooses this life. It's not that he's socially awkward or can't interact with society in a larger way, it's that he doesn't want to. It's his dedication and unconditional love of something greater than himself that he values and when we recognizes that others lack that kind of passion he's uninterested in them.Paul and his friend tail their favorite player, Quantrell Bishop, to a club one night and through some unfortunate miscommunication Paul gets brutally beaten up by Bishop. Putting his love for football over his own self interest Paul tries to ignore how his hobby turned on him. From this choice spirals a host of effects that Paul fights to regain control of. All of this ends with a climatic showdown with his radio rival in a scene that is pure brilliance and pure Paul, through and through. You'll cheer. Trust me. Paul is played by comedian Patton Oswald and holy hell does he do an amazing job. A character like this could easily spin in caricature or stereotype, but with subtlety and honesty in Oswald's performance it never does.