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Big Fan

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Genre
  
Comedy, Crime, Drama

Music director
  
Philip Nashel-Watts

Writer
  
Robert D. Siegel

Language
  
English

6.7/10
IMDb


Director
  
Robert D. Siegel

Initial DVD release
  
January 12, 2010

Duration
  

Country
  
United States

Big Fan movie poster

Release date
  
August 28, 2009 (2009-08-28)

Initial release
  
August 28, 2009 (New York City)

Cast
  
(Paul Aufiero), (Sal), (Philadelphia Phil), (Paul's Mom),
Serafina Fiore
(Gina Aufiero),
Gino Cafarelli
(Jeff Aufiero)

Similar movies
  
Straight Outta Compton
,
Independence Day
,
The Gambler
,
No Good Deed
,
Rocky II
,
Million Dollar Arm

Big Fan is a 2009 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Robert D. Siegel, and starring Patton Oswalt, Kevin Corrigan, Marcia Jean Kurtz, Michael Rapaport, and Scott Ferrall. The story revolves around the bleak yet amiable life of the self-described "world’s biggest New York Giants fan", Paul Aufiero (Oswalt). Big Fan garnered positive reviews at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival. The film had a limited release in the United States beginning on August 28, 2009.

Contents

Big Fan movie scenes

Plot

Big Fan movie scenes

Paul Aufiero (Patton Oswalt) is a parking garage attendant who lives with his mother (Marcia Jean Kurtz) in Staten Island, New York. He relentlessly follows the New York Giants football team. He and his friend Sal (Kevin Corrigan) faithfully attend each Giants game; however, as they can't afford tickets, they content themselves with watching the games on a battery-powered TV in the stadium parking lot. Paul is also a regular caller to the Sports Dogg's (Scott Ferrall) radio talk show, where he refers to himself as "Paul from Staten Island," rants in support of the Giants, and berates his mysterious on-air rival, Philadelphia Eagles fanatic "Philadelphia Phil" (Michael Rapaport). Paul's family criticizes him for doing nothing with his life. He disregards their scorn and happily devotes himself to his beloved team.

Big Fan movie scenes

One day Paul and Sal spot Giants star and Paul's favorite player Quantrell Bishop (Jonathan Hamm) and his entourage in Staten Island. They follow Bishop to a drug deal in Stapleton. Though the pair see Bishop buying something, they naively fail to recognize the transaction. Paul and Sal then follow Bishop into a strip club in Manhattan where they eventually introduce themselves. All goes well until the two fans innocently mention that they saw Bishop in Stapleton. Bishop becomes enraged and brutally beats Paul, who is hospitalized for his injuries.

Big Fan movie scenes

Following the incident, Bishop is suspended from the team. Paul's personal-injury lawyer brother Jeff (Gino Cafarelli) and NYPD Detective Velardi (Matt Servitto) pressure Paul to bring charges against Bishop, but Paul refuses, worried about the effect on the Giants' performance if they permanently lose their star linebacker. The charges against Bishop are eventually dropped and he returns to the team.

Big Fan movie scenes

Jeff then files a $77 million civil lawsuit against Bishop as Paul's legal guardian, claiming Paul is mentally incompetent and can't bring the lawsuit himself. When a reporter phones Paul to ask him "about the lawsuit," Paul becomes livid and confronts Jeff as he sits on the toilet. Both Jeff and Paul's mother start to pressure Paul to get mental help.

Philadelphia Phil researches Paul on the Internet and reveals on Sports Dogg's show that the victim of the Quantrell Bishop beating is in fact "Paul from Staten Island", humiliating him. Paul heads for Philadelphia to confront Phil. Disguised as an Eagles fanatic, Paul identifies Phil in a local bar and gains his trust as they watch the Giants and Eagles play the season's pivotal final game. As the Eagles dominate the Giants, the crowd in the bar begins to deride the Giants in increasingly enthusiastic fashion, much to Paul's consternation. When time runs out and the Eagles fanatics celebrate their victory, Paul follows Phil into the men's room and pulls a gun on him, shooting Phil multiple times. Phil, lying shocked on the men's room floor, stares at his hands, which are now covered in red and blue, the Giants' colors. The gun is then revealed to be a paintball gun. Paul utters "Eagles suck!" and flees from the bar.

Paul is arrested and imprisoned for the assault. Sal visits Paul in jail and reveals to him the Giants' schedule for the following season. A key game coincides with the week Paul is scheduled to be released—Paul is overjoyed and says "It's going to be a great year".

Cast

  • Patton Oswalt as Paul Aufiero
  • Kevin Corrigan as Sal
  • Michael Rapaport as Philadelphia Phil
  • Marcia Jean Kurtz as Theresa Aufiero
  • Matt Servitto as Detective Velarde
  • Serafina Fiore as Gina
  • Gino Cafarelli as Jeff
  • Jonathan Hamm as Quantrell Bishop
  • Polly Humphreys as Christine
  • Scott Ferrall as Sports Dogg
  • Sharoz Makarechi as Production Designer
  • Josh Trank as Wrong Phil's Buddy
  • Reception

    Big Fan received mostly positive reviews from critics. Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a rating of 86%, based on 87 reviews, with an average rating of 7.1/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Featuring Patton Oswalt's sympathetic portrayal, Big Fan humorously and effectively captures the dark and lonely world of a sports fanatic." Metacritic gives the film a score of 70 out of 100, based on 27 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews."

    The New York Times gave the film a positive review, describing it as an "agreeably low-key and modest film."

    References

    Big Fan Wikipedia
    Big Fan IMDbBig Fan Rotten TomatoesBig Fan Roger EbertBig Fan MetacriticBig Fan themoviedb.org


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