New Sports Comedy "Big Fan" Doesn't Disappoint

Over the weekend, I got a chance to check out the new sports comedy "Big Fan" and I really enjoyed it.

"Big Fan" written by Robert D. Siegel profiles the life of an obsessed New York Giants fan played by Patton Oswalt.

Set and shot in Staten Island, NY, Oswalt's character, Paul, works as a parking-garage attendant, lives with his mother and the only thing he finds comfort in is watching or should I say "worshipping" the G-Men.

Siegel, who grew up on Long Island, does a great job translating his his childhood memories into a movie that's both an insightful and amusing look at ourselves and fellow sports fans.

And whether you'll admit it or not, the one thing that makes the movie so real, is that we ALL know someone like Paul.

Check out the trailer after the jump.

Director's Statement

As a kid growing up on Long Island, every night, I would crawl into bed, turn out the lights and Turn on WFAN, the local sports-radio station. There in the dark, I would listen in on the lives and obsessions of an exotic cast of characters… Massapequa Mark, Frank from Flushing, Doris from Piscataway. I loved hearing them rant about the Jets' inexcusable loss to the Dolphins, or Davey Johnson's idiotic decision to pull Doc Gooden after the walk to Van Slyke. I was captivated by their strange accents, native to far-flung corners of the New York area like Yonkers or Kew Gardens. I wondered who they were, what their lives were like.

Years later, when I got interested in movies, I gravitated toward films that were about people like the ones I heard on that little alarm-clock radio in my childhood bedroom. "Midnight Cowboy." "Saturday Night Fever." "Mean Streets." Stories of scruffy, outerborough strivers with strange obsessions. To my mind, there's no real difference between Massapequa Mark and Ratso Rizzo, or Frank from Flushing and Tony Manero.

To me, they're all just Big Fans.

- Robert Siegel

Big Fan was released August 28th and is playing in select theaters. Check out the link below for listings.

SHOWTIMES
http://www.bigfanmovie.com/showtimes.html