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Bi-polar mall security guard Ronnie Barnhardt is called into action to stop a flasher from turning shopper's paradise into his personal peep show. But when Barnhardt can't bring the culprit to justice, a surly police detective, is recruited to close the case.
A miserable conman and his partner pose as Santa and his Little Helper to rob department stores on Christmas Eve. But they run into problems when the conman befriends a troubled kid, and the security boss discovers the plot.
Director:
Terry Zwigoff
Stars:
Billy Bob Thornton,
Lauren Graham,
Bernie Mac
Aspiring comic Rupert Pupkin wants to achieve success in showbiz, by resorting to stalking his idol, a late night talk show host who craves his own privacy.
Director:
Martin Scorsese
Stars:
Robert De Niro,
Jerry Lewis,
Diahnne Abbott
Chronicles Jack Harris, one of the pioneers of internet commerce, as he wrestles with his morals and struggles not to drown in a sea of conmen, mobsters, drug addicts, and pornstars.
Director:
George Gallo
Stars:
Luke Wilson,
Giovanni Ribisi,
Gabriel Macht
Paul Aufiero, a hardcore New York Giants football fan, struggles to deal with the consequences when he is beaten up by his favorite player. Written by
Big Fan Productions, Inc.
Originally planned to be a straight-forward comedy titled "Paul Aufiero" but Robert D. Siegel personally re-wrote his script into a drama. See more »
Goofs
The bar "Sharky's" seen towards the end of the film where Paul Aufiero encounters Philadelphia Phil is actually located in the northern section of Staten Island, and not Philadelphia where the scene was supposed to have taken place. See more »
"Big Fan" is an unpleasant movie about an extremely unpleasant man.
Patton Oswalt plays a dumpy 37-year-old loser who lives with his mother and spends his life living vicariously through the glories of the New York Giants. On a night out on the town, he and his buddy catch sight of their favorite player and follow him to a nightclub. When they approach him, a misunderstanding leads to Oswalt getting badly beaten by him. But he refuses to take legal action against him despite the admonishments of his family, because he'd rather see his favorite player able to lead his team to a win than seek remuneration for himself.
"Big Fan" starts out as a low-key comedy, but gradually picks up dark overtones and seems like it's going to take its audience to some uncomfortable places. Oswalt's character comes across as a schlubby but mostly decent guy at first, but as the movie progresses, we start to wonder if he might be mentally unhinged. However, a cop-out ending lurches the film back into uneasy dark comedy, and basically asks us to find Oswalt's character endearing even though he's been nothing but off putting.
The tone is all over the place, the comedy never really working. If the film had acknowledged that Oswalt's character is a loser, and made some kind of point about the fine line that begins to separate hobby from obsession, it might have been more interesting. But it instead asks us to take his side, and seems to take the stance that his obsession is just the healthy interest of your everyday man-child. The movie goes out of its way to make Oswalt's family into obnoxious caricatures, and we're not supposed to like them because they think he needs to get a life, but guess what....his family seemed to me to make a lot of sense.
Pretty much the definition of a misfire.
Grade: C
18 of 32 people found this review helpful.
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"Big Fan" is an unpleasant movie about an extremely unpleasant man.
Patton Oswalt plays a dumpy 37-year-old loser who lives with his mother and spends his life living vicariously through the glories of the New York Giants. On a night out on the town, he and his buddy catch sight of their favorite player and follow him to a nightclub. When they approach him, a misunderstanding leads to Oswalt getting badly beaten by him. But he refuses to take legal action against him despite the admonishments of his family, because he'd rather see his favorite player able to lead his team to a win than seek remuneration for himself.
"Big Fan" starts out as a low-key comedy, but gradually picks up dark overtones and seems like it's going to take its audience to some uncomfortable places. Oswalt's character comes across as a schlubby but mostly decent guy at first, but as the movie progresses, we start to wonder if he might be mentally unhinged. However, a cop-out ending lurches the film back into uneasy dark comedy, and basically asks us to find Oswalt's character endearing even though he's been nothing but off putting.
The tone is all over the place, the comedy never really working. If the film had acknowledged that Oswalt's character is a loser, and made some kind of point about the fine line that begins to separate hobby from obsession, it might have been more interesting. But it instead asks us to take his side, and seems to take the stance that his obsession is just the healthy interest of your everyday man-child. The movie goes out of its way to make Oswalt's family into obnoxious caricatures, and we're not supposed to like them because they think he needs to get a life, but guess what....his family seemed to me to make a lot of sense.
Pretty much the definition of a misfire.
Grade: C