Big Fan

Okay, this is the first post as this blog transforms into my hyper-critique of films. Truth is, I’m fortunate/doomed enough to work at home, and only recently have I realized just how many films I can consume in one day while I work. This means the good AND the bad. I’m a big supporter of Netflix and Redbox (for mainstream releases), especially since I believe Blockbuster is an evil company. I could critique Blockbuster in a very lengthy essay, but I’ll save that for some day later. For now, I’ll focus on some films I’ve watched over the past few days and I’ll constantly update with reviews. My reviews of films will mostly be unconventionally, but purely subjective and objective at the same time. You’ll see it. It just depends, possibly.


Big Fan (7/10)


I’ll admit I’m not a really big Patton Oswalt fan during my stint to actually constitute such faire as “King of Queens” or “Reno 911” as actual comedy. I had nothing personal against him, but I subconsciously felt he might be overrated as a comedian due to his more mainstream work. This assumption really wasn’t fair since I’ve never seen his stand-up. Based on this assumption alone though, I didn’t expect much from Oswalt as lead in a film.

I remember hearing mixed reviews over “Big Fan” when it played at Sundance in 2009, but since I saw “Precious”, I figured I might as well check out this one. I was, at least, hoping for a couple subtle laughs. And that’s exactly what I got.

“Big Fan” is a dark comedy that is a poignant character study at heart, with a surprising performance from Oswalt as an obsessed football fan who gets beat up by his favorite player. Really, it was better than I anticipated. At times, there’s more drama than one would expect, but this film really reminded of a more mature Jody Hill film. I’m one of the few who enjoyed “Observe and Report” and this is definitely in the same vein.

This film was the directorial debut of Robert Seigel, who was the writer of the acclaimed film “The Wrestler”, which I have yet to see. I was hoping that this film would explore that raw emotional intensity of a real sports fan, and it did - well. This film really hit the spot since I live in Indiana and the Colts are going to be in the Superbowl this coming Sunday. Not being a big sports person myself, I’ve always wondered about the sociological design that leads people to idolize the players in such ways. This film nails it.