Best movie of this year hands down!

Very disappointing...

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Patton Oswalt is one of the best stand up comedians around, I'm a big fan. Curious? Check out the live album Werewolves and Lollipops or browse m4m on Craigslist's 'Casual encounters' section. So, being that this dark comic has made me look like a walking asthma attack on several occasions, I was really looking forward to his big screen transition in Big Fan (2009). I watch... and I wait... and I'm totally confused.It's certainly not a bad movie but one thing it isn't is a comedy. A little research shows it's from Robert D Siegel, writer of The Wrestler, a film which I loved but here he's gone for the quick one-two knockout and not quite landed. Big Fan is a story of faded dreams and missed opportunities much like The Wrestler but it's just somehow less interesting. The good news is Patton is really quite a decent actor and this film although not a triumph is enough of a square peg to be of interest to all but the most dedicated Bride Wars fan.

I gave this movie a chance on the movie network on demand. I already knew this was a low budget film and I have seen the main character do his stand up routine so I wasn't expecting much. I was interested in the beginning of the movie as it seemed to have a nice premise and good character development. After 25 minutes in or so I was thinking to myself what am I watching? Where is this movie going? And why hasn't it started to go there yet? The plot was building very slowly. And some consider this a comedy, I didn't even realize this until I read up more about the movie. The only thing this movie has going for it is the very ending where he shoots the eagles fan with a paint gun, that was a twist I was not expecting. And the main character really showed his ability of an actor in the ending scene. This movie could have been better in my eyes if they would have had one or two more 'exciting' parts to it like the ending.

As sports fans, we always consider the degree to which we support or dedicate ourselves to the team. "Big Fan" is a character study of a man who has formed his identity and life around the New York Giants. The film preys on our expectation that every fan has a clear line when it's time to stop being a fan and start being your own person. That's not true of Paul Aufiero (Patton Oswalt).The concept of building a film around this type of character allows "Big Fan" to explore the notion of sports psychosis. Writer, director and former Onion editor-in-chief Robert D. Siegel clearly understands that sports films haven't gone in this direction and he already demonstrated the chops to handle unique sports-devoted characters in creating Randy "The Ram" Robinson of Darren Aronofsky's "The Wrestler." In "Fan," his directorial debut, too much of good film convention is sacrificed to create Paul's psychological profile.The best way to describe Siegel's error with the film is that it never goes straight down the path carved out by the set-up. Paul works a job as a parking lot attendant, but off the clock (and back home with his mother) he calls in regularly to his favorite nighttime sports radio program to defend the Giants and talk smack about the Philadelphia Eagles. His favorite player is a defensive lineman named Quantrell Bishop, so instinctively when glimpsing Bishop at a gas station, Paul and his best friend follow him. He ends up at a nightclub and when Bishop suspects him of stalking, he pummels him within an inch of his life.The expectation is that the film will skyrocket from there. The press are sure to be busting down his door, the police will be on his case, etc. The aftermath is much tamer. The press apparently don't even have his name and on three separate occasions, a detective comes to question him only for Paul to say he "doesn't remember" when the truth is he wants Bishop back on the field so that the Giants can continue pursuing the division championship. The movie never really picks up in pace and disappoints in that regard.It's also hard to cozy up to Paul's mindset. Most people wouldn't let even their sports hero walk away if he nearly killed them, at least not without some kind of apology or settlement. He just wants to go back to being an average Giants fan. That's all he wants in this film. He doesn't want to live on his own, get a real job or make millions in a personal injury suit that his brother wants him to file. There's not having traditional values and denouncing the life that your family wants you to lead, but then there's Paul -- an intriguing but fallible concept.The biggest sin of Siegel's story is how it veers away from being about either rectification of the assault or how Paul's life is being forced in a direction he can't cope with as a result. Instead it's about getting back at the Eagles fan (Michael Rapaport) who calls in to Paul's favorite show and trash-talks. Sure, Siegel's point is to show how Paul wants to be a devoted fan above anything else in his life, but in route to telling us that, a lot of basic storytelling principles are violated and for a plot of this magnitude, "Big Fan" is strangely quiet.~Steven CVisit my site http://moviemusereviews.com

"Big Fan," a semi-serious comedy/drama/something-or-other starring comedian Patton Oswalt as football-obsessed man-child Paul Aufiero, rode into Philadelphia (a place Aufiero would otherwise only visit for nefarious purposes) on a wave of Sundance buzz. Robert D. Siegel, who penned last year's "The Wrestler," makes his directorial debut, and Darren Aronofsky he is not. It isn't that "Big Fan" is at all a failure, as the film far outshines bland 2009 indie favorite "Paper Heart" and the loathsome "Humpday," but still Siegel comes across as professionally misguided as his parking garage-bound protagonist. The unfocused tone, odd ball scenes, and sloppy editing make for a curiously amateurish feature that happens to have talented actors and a good script behind it. Siegel is a writer, plain and simple.Nevertheless, "Big Fan" exists, and is an often entertaining mishmash of genres, sentiments, ideas, and characters. The aforementioned Aufiero is the eponymous 'big fan' of the New York Giants, especially fictional quarterback Quantrell Bishop. He spends his time delivering carefully rehearsed rants on sports radio programs (in a hushed whisper so as to not disturb his mother), and watching the game on his 17" television in the stadium parking lot with his buddy Sal.Paul has a direct impact on his fantasy world, however, when he approaches his idol in a nightclub and, well, gets the crap kicked out of him. He awakens in a hospital room Monday morning ("How did we do?") and is pitted against his family and the police department, who pressure him to press charges against the quarterback, but he's hung up what it all means for his Giants' super bowl chances.Oswalt is perfect in his role, as is Kevin Corrigan as his dopey compatriot, and the two ground their characters somewhere real and familiar, which almost make the more bizarre plot developments in the third act believable. Almost.And "Big Fan" is a whole movie of almosts. Almost a comedy, almost a character study, and almost successful. The psychology of Aufiero is its greatest asset, spelunking into the realm of universal obsession and the innate driving competitiveness of American culture channeled through surrogates like sports stars and celebrities. What does representational victory mean to a loser like Paul Aufiero? What does it mean to submit yourself to an intangible world that suddenly is beating you within an inch of your life? Great questions that the movie almost answers."Big Fan" just reeks of first film. Its construction is flawed and transparent, though has the benefit of a strong cast and interesting script, which make it a worthwhile but potentially disappointing film. That the screenplay already suffers from a thematic identity crisis only compounds the mistakes made in shot choice, lighting, timing, and tone. What's interesting about the story is just below the surface, nobly struggling to reveal itself, but only ends up ever really hinting at its presence.I'm more than willing to see where Siegel's career takes him next, but "Big Fan" is a project that probably would have only benefited from more experienced hands.