Siegel's treatment of his lead character is sympathetic and probing, continuing the fascination with those on the fringe that was the strongest element of The Wrestler. As played by Oswalt, the character's whole identity is wrapped up in his devotion, and the minor celebrity it affords as a regular participant in a local call-in radio show. The film feels a little thin, though. There's no quite enough there to flesh out the world beyond Siegel's initial clever ideas.

Original story and interesting characterization of a loser whose life is so empty he only has football to fill it. Competently made, and interesting to watch, but at the end, I kind of wondered what I had learned or whether the movie changed me -- the only take home lesson i could derive from the film would be 'people are jerks or losers'... but i don't really like that lesson, nor do I even think it's true. still, kind of a neat movie, decently made -- certainly not boring.

Full disclosure: I'm a huge Patton Oswalt fan, and he shines in this film, totally immersing himself in the character. The story itself is pretty good, too, with some pretty powerful scenes scattered throughout the film. My only, and biggest, complaint is that the third act kind of falls flat and spoils a lot of good buildup.

Not as good as I had hoped. Patton Oswalt steps outside his boundaries, but never really takes the character to as dark enough place. Yet half that fault belongs to the story. It builds itself up in a fashion far too similar to "Taxi Driver" to be considered an omage, and then never hits a satisfying peak. Without giving away the end, we're never handed a haunting experience that the character's tormented psyche seems to be holding on to with both hands.

Patton Oswalt, a man famous for being witty, smart and confident, knocks it out of the park playing a man who isn't any of those things. Story reminded me of a leaner, darker King of Comedy, which I also loved, but this one is actually better somehow. I'm also a sucker for dirty, angry New York movies, they seem more relatable to me.

Siegel did a great job getting this movie underneath your skin and being hilarious at the same time. Although the comedy within the movie must be viewed like a Monet rather than specific scenes; I didn't realize how funny it was until I reflected back on it. Also, Oswalt's breakthrough performance for sure.

"It acutely illustrates how excessive sports fanaticism functions as a strain of insanity that, as posited by the "happy" coda, recommences with every new season." - Nick Schager

Oswalt gives a terrific performance in the lead, even if the movie goes a bit too far in painting him as a pathetic idiot. Maybe it's because I listen to (and want to work in) sports radio that I find this kind of character more fascinating than some might. I "know" guys like this -- I hear them all the time. I may not be far removed from being a guy like this myself. The climax is a bit disappointing (though fittingly juvenile), but Oswalt and Corrigan's final scene is so good I'll forgive it.

Good performance from Patton Oswalt, even if I did have some trouble relating to his character.

If the entire film had been as good as the last twenty minutes this would have been a totally different beast. Great anyways.

The intensely likable Oswalt mopes, sulks, and rages his way through a crisis and writer-director Siegel tops it off in the funniest and most cathartic way (short of outright silliness) possible.

Except 4 Rapaport who delivers an underrated spot-on performance of a particularly obnoxious type of sports zealot, this disappoints..over and over again. A film would have 2 b much funnier than this 1 to justify such an ultimately pointless, 1-note character arc 4 its lead. Siegel shoots fish in a barrel taking swipes at the easily mockable & just when the film starts 2 enter in2 a truly nailbiting bit of Taxi Driver-like territory, Siegel guts it in favor of yet another "laugh" at his loser.

Super depressing but worthwhile film. You really feel for Patton Oswalt even as he refuses redemption at every turn.

This is one of the better dark comedies I have seen in awhile. It seems like an extreme way to look at certain sports fans, but that level of fanaticism is there more often than you'd think. Oswalt is great as the lead and Corrigan is great as his friend. The ending could not have gone any better and I loved the final dialogue with Owalt and Corrigan. For Siegel this wasn't as good as the Wrestler but still a great character study and worth a watch.

Interesting exploration of a strange but not uncommon personality. The obsession here is sports but it could be other things and there are some really good moments that shed light on how obsession can affect decision making skills. The ending is appropriately imperfect.

Patton Oswalt's smile at the end of "Big Fan" is an exact replicate of how I felt about this film. Siegel makes you feel like your in the mind of someone with a true obsession with what he loves. At times I wanted to scream at the screen as the situation for the 'fan' gradually get worse. Emotionally captivating.

Patton Oswalt is great in this. But wtffffff at the ending

At first I thought this was going to be about how obsessive "losers" aren't any worse than the people who feel the need to talk down at them. Then it got disturbing. And I don't mean that in a normative way, but this movie is just straight up disturbing. It was like a cross between two DeNiro movies: The Fan and Taxi Driver, with the quality being somewhere in between those two.

Oswalt turns in a wrenching performance, further supporting my theory that comedic actors usually excel in dramatic roles. The film's unsettling tone is brilliant, though I was disappointed to see it weakened by a relatively unsatisfying climax, which essentially amounts to a prank rather than any sort of character growth or meaningful revelation. Otherwise, definitely worthwhile. I'll be interested to see what Siegel does next.

I'm shocked to find out that this is from the same writer as The Wrestler. Whereas The Ram's tragic loser-ness is palpable and heart-breaking, Paul the Giants fan was just pathetic and uninteresting. It may be because I'm not a fanatic about any sports team, but it's more likely that Aronofsky/Rourke were able to transform an average script into something magical. I love Oswalt as a comedian, but this is far from a comedy, as it's overall tone is as realistic and mundane as you can possibly get.

Siegel's latest character study doesn't suffer as much without Aronofsky as I figured it would. The climax feels like a bit of a cop-out, and I ended up feeling like Siegel didn't push the whole thing far enough. It was interesting to see this type of obsession on display in a film, and to see Oswalt in a real role. A solid directorial debut from Siegel, but a pretty unmemorable film.

Average. The subject here is a typical sports fan. The point is to explore his obsession but the protagonist is so uninteresting..unlikeable and the filmmakers try so tediously and annoyingly hard to prove his zealous obsession is actually loyalty that by the end, the film feels much...much longer than its short 95 min runtime. Not recommended.

From the technical point of view Siegel did a great job, but I couldnīt get into the plot. Maybe one reason for this is, that I canīt understand those people. Another negative point is the stereotype of a looser, that Siegel created with Paul. The fat, masturbating mope, who lives with his mother?!? Whatver itīs watchable.

Some amusing bits and pieces (the rough drafts of his nightly sports-talk phone calls and the stumbling delivery of these over the air), but not sharpened to much of an edge or much of a point. Most of the time it's hard to know whether the movie is even meant to be a comedy, despite having the pudgy stand-up comic Oswalt in the lead role, and despite the gleeful ridicule.

Watching Big Fan brings to the fore all the cliches and easy characterizations apparent in the Siegel's script of The Wrestler, problems that Aronofsky's evocative yet restrained direction and Rourke's amazing performance rendered harmless. After the broad characterization and lighthearted treatment of pathological behavior on display here, let's just say my appreciation of The Wrestler has increased a bit more.

It had its funny moments, and was overall dark. I felt a lot of the themes of the movies were left untended. Either way, a dark funny look at a sports fan and it's good to see Patton in a leading role.

A brilliant, unnerving look at fanaticism of all kinds. "Big Fan" is the kind of movie that gets really hard to watch at some points, but it's so magnificently done that you can't look away. Between this and "The Wrestler," Robert Siegel seems to have great insight into the human condition, and I hope he continues writing great screenplays. Oswalt is superb too; maybe he'll end up like Robin Williams in doing both comedy and drama. "Big Fan" surprises in many ways -- and all of them positive.

A good look at the life of a man who takes fandom a bit too seriously. Not really funny so I don't know why they call it a comedy. Oswalt shines in the lead.

About as funny as a severe, reckless and almost fatal beating. Why the hell is this labeled as a comedy? "Big Fan" is a devastatingly depressing look at a man who's identity is - and is only - being a Giants fan, and what this obsession partly forces him to shut out, partly forces him to accept. It's actually downright sad. Oswalt - likeable even when he makes all the wrong choices and is somewhat of a loser - carries the movie.

Didn't know people wrote their rants, but I guess it makes sense. The main theme of the movie didn't really shock me. I can see people being this crazy to put the team(that they don't even play for) first in front of EVERYTHING else. I thought Patton was good in the lead role, and had some slightly funny scenes in the parking garage. Besides that didn't really see much humor until the final scene with the schedule. That again is funny, mainly because I feel for some it is really true.

As a black comedy about an obsessed misfit, it's mildly comparable to the recent Observe and Report. But where that movie had problems of tone, this one gets the balance right. It's amusing enough and keeps you compelled enough... it's not great or anything, but it's pretty good. My only real complaint is that I thought it was a bit condescending to Oswalt's character, going overboard in making him pathetic. Do we really need to see him masturbating? I don't think so.

....wow...well, Robert Siegel has made a big fan out of me, this man knows how to screenwrite! Big Fan and The Wrestler are two of the finest dramas of recent years, I'm looking forward to what is next from this former Editor in Chief of the Onion/burgeoning auteur. Also, I can't imagine anyone giving a better performance than Patton Oswalt does as the die hard Giants fan. ...anyway, great movie, too bad only like 12 people are ever going to see it.

Very, very strange movie... complete dramatic turn for Oswalt, and an unflinching look at superfandom. A cop-out ending rings slightly hollow, though, and the movie is a bit lanquidly-paced in places.

Living only to cheer on the Giants, the protagonist of Big Fan is equal parts pathetic and tragic. Its obvious that the sport he loves will never love him back (violently rejecting him in the form of a beatdown from a drunk QB) and he has no interest in anything outside of his fandom, enduring his mother to avoid having to move out or get a career started. At times cringe inducing, laughably embarrassing and tragic, its an insight into a life you'll be surprised to feel empathy towards.

Hoo boy, talk about cringeworthy. The good kind, that is. Oswalt surprised me with his subdued performance and even though the character arc is rather basic I never lost interest.