First Independent Films | US | 86 mins
Big Fan comes from Robert Siegel, the man behind The Wrestler’s tremendous script. This marks his directorial debut and its a very successful one. This film follows the formula of this year’s more entertaining and profound Observe and Report, showing a sad character who’s caught in a downward spiral and learns nothing. This is a film that causes a viewer to feel slightly uneasy, but in a good way. This feeling causes a sensation of excitement to see what the protagonist will do next and the film doesn’t disappoint.
The film revolves around Paul Aufiero (Patton Oswalt) who is a diehard Giants fan. He’s in his late thirties, works in a toll booth and lives at home with his mother. Paul nearly revolves his life around his hometown team and that is his main focus. One night while he’s hanging out with his fellow Giant loving friend they spot one of their idols — the team’s quarterback Quantrell Bishop (Jonathan Hamm). After following him to a strip club, Paul’s encounter becomes violent once Quantrell finds out they followed him. Paul soon finds himself under heavy scrutiny and pressure. His family is pushing him to sue and his annoying cliché lawyer brother is especially persistent. Paul finally starts to question his loyalty to the Giants and must decide whether or not to pursue justice.
As the story progresses things only get worse for Paul. Everything that can go wrong for Paul does. Its a film that slowly tortures the main protagonist into isolation and depression. He’s purely painted as a man who’s without ambition or a life goal — nothing matters to him except the Giants. His family continues to push him to strive for more and this factor is the weakest part of the film. Paul’s family moments come off cliché and somewhat predictable. When Paul goes on a night sports talk show it’s not difficult to predict his mother will pick up the phone one night. When he’s beaten by his sports idol its not difficult to predict his brother will try to cash in. Those are the real moments where the film stumbles — in its predictability. Where the film truly shines is in its tremendously executed third act. This is where Paul is truly at the bottom and his future actions seem unpredictable. The tone becomes darker and the last act becomes very eerie.
Comedian Patton Oswalt delivers an excellent and breakthrough performance as Paul. Oswalt is a fine comedian and here he shows how far his talents can truly go. He delivers a dark and saddening performance. He portrays his dark turn perfectly and still remains in many ways sympathetic. There’s obviously something wrong with his character, but he is obviously a kind hearted man. At first, he’s an average joe with an extremist passion for football. Nothing particularly troublesome seems to be going on with him until he’s beaten by someone he looks up to. Oswalt transcends from a simpleton to a man who’s truly capable of doing something terrible.
Robert Siegel lends the film a simplistic and realistic look with the Red One camera. It’s basic camera work, but his direction shines during the darker moments. During the bar scene and other moments of tension, Siegel gives unsettling close ups of Paul’s face. These small moments add to the uneasiness that the film contains. The little details that Siegel adds such as newspaper clippings and other sports memorabilia brings layers to Paul’s obsession.
Big Fan is a darkly fascinating and entertaining character study. The film does have a few problems — some contrived plot elements and a few cliched characters. Overall, this still remains a very good film. Patton Oswalt delivers a more than memorable performance, Siegel frames an array of well composed shots and the tension is more unsettling than what’s seen in most thrillers released today.