As an obsessive-compulsive New York Giants fan myself this one hits rather close to home. I can see a lot of myself in Paul Aufiero, the main character in this film. And that's somewhat scary because Paul Aufiero is unquestionably a complete and total loser. And probably at least a little bit deranged. OK, in all truth probably more than a little bit deranged. But you can relate to the guy, identify with him. Well I can at least. Your mileage may vary.
Paul Aufiero is in his mid-30s, works a dead-end job as a parking-lot attendant, lives with his mother and has no apparent goals or ambition in life. He lives for his football team. If the Giants win, he's happy. As "Paul from Staten Island" he calls sports-talk radio shows in the middle of the night, with his mother shushing him from the other room. He carefully scripts his phone calls down to the smallest detail, writing the whole thing down on legal pads while he works. It's all rather pathetic. But Paul of course doesn't see it that way. As Paul from Staten Island he's important, he has a voice. He sees his painstakingly thought-out radio speeches as being in fact quite brilliant. He has the unique, so he thinks, ability to explain to the world why the Giants are like totally freaking awesome and why the hated Eagles and his radio call-in rival Philadelphia Phil are total losers. So maybe his life's going nowhere but the Giants are winning, everything is good in Paul Aufiero's little world. And then it all goes horribly wrong.
While Big Fan is by no means a spectacular film it definitely works, thanks almost entirely to the performance of Patton Oswalt who plays Paul. There are supporting players sprinkled throughout but it's largely left to Oswalt to carry the film on his own and he succeeds. The film takes us inside the head of this strange little man. And being inside that head is a scary place to be. It's a great performance. In spite of the character's obvious failings you can't help but root for Paul. Unless maybe you're an Eagles fan but we all know Eagles fans aren't quite human so they don't really count. As Paul's obsession takes him into dark, dangerous territory there's a sense that we may see this guy just totally lose it. Whatever little grasp of "it" he had to begin with anyway. But the story has some final surprises in store for us and things wrap up happily enough. Happy for us anyway. Happy for Paul? How do the Giants look this season? That's all that matters. That's all that ever matters. I can relate.
Paul Aufiero is in his mid-30s, works a dead-end job as a parking-lot attendant, lives with his mother and has no apparent goals or ambition in life. He lives for his football team. If the Giants win, he's happy. As "Paul from Staten Island" he calls sports-talk radio shows in the middle of the night, with his mother shushing him from the other room. He carefully scripts his phone calls down to the smallest detail, writing the whole thing down on legal pads while he works. It's all rather pathetic. But Paul of course doesn't see it that way. As Paul from Staten Island he's important, he has a voice. He sees his painstakingly thought-out radio speeches as being in fact quite brilliant. He has the unique, so he thinks, ability to explain to the world why the Giants are like totally freaking awesome and why the hated Eagles and his radio call-in rival Philadelphia Phil are total losers. So maybe his life's going nowhere but the Giants are winning, everything is good in Paul Aufiero's little world. And then it all goes horribly wrong.
While Big Fan is by no means a spectacular film it definitely works, thanks almost entirely to the performance of Patton Oswalt who plays Paul. There are supporting players sprinkled throughout but it's largely left to Oswalt to carry the film on his own and he succeeds. The film takes us inside the head of this strange little man. And being inside that head is a scary place to be. It's a great performance. In spite of the character's obvious failings you can't help but root for Paul. Unless maybe you're an Eagles fan but we all know Eagles fans aren't quite human so they don't really count. As Paul's obsession takes him into dark, dangerous territory there's a sense that we may see this guy just totally lose it. Whatever little grasp of "it" he had to begin with anyway. But the story has some final surprises in store for us and things wrap up happily enough. Happy for us anyway. Happy for Paul? How do the Giants look this season? That's all that matters. That's all that ever matters. I can relate.