This Movie Can Only Be Described With One Word.

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

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

Just intense enough to provide a much-needed diversion, just lightweight enough to make you forget about it soon after it’s over. It’s not exactly “good,” per se, but it does what it sets out to do in terms of putting us on edge, which makes it … successful?

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.

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.

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.

"Big Fan" is about Paul (Patton Oswalt) who is a really big fan of the New York Giants. It's a simple premise and one that you think you see on a regular basis. But this movie is different because we really meet Paul, on a very personal level. We see everything in his life that makes him who he is. Even though Paul takes the word "fanatic" to a very serious level, he's accessible and it seems very real.It's really slow moving because we basically just follow Paul around as he lives his very lowly life, everything revolving around the Giants, and listens to sports talk radio. I was completely riveted. This is a character study at the highest level. It doesn't use sex or drugs or big-budget action to get us interested, only Paul himself. And a little bit of football talk.This is a darkly comic, but also very real, introspection of a sports fan. Every aspect of Paul had thought put into including interactions with and characteristics of all his family members and friend(s). "Big Fan" is the best mix of character study and sports, written at a very high level.The director and screenwriter, Robert Siegel, also wrote "The Wrestler" which I was not a big fan of. Although it was critically acclaimed, I feel that "Big Fan" actually accomplishes what "The Wrestler" was supposed to - a soul-fulfilling examination of what sports can do to some people. The humour echos the realness and intelligence found in the The Onion - Siegel was an editor in chief. That should just reinforce the recommendation to see this movie.