RottenTomatoes.com
Log In | Register | What is RT?
RT's Blu-ray HQ
  • Home
  • Movies
  • DVD
  • Celebrities
  • News
  • Critics
  • Trailers & Pictures
  • CommunityBeta
  • Box Office
  • | In Theaters
  • | Opening
  • | Upcoming
  • | Best Of
  • | Certified Fresh
  • | Showtimes
RT Search Powered by Google
help icon Enhanced RT
searches on Google
Click here to turn on enhanced search results from RT on your Google searches.
 
Movies / On DVD / Big Fan
Big Fan

Rate this Movie Help Icon

  • Write a Review
  • Read Reviews
  • Add to List
  • Get this Movie
  • Buy Poster External Icon
Bookmark and Share

Big Fan (2009)

  • T-Meter Critics
  • Top Critics
  • RT Community
  • My Critics
  • My Friends
  • DVD
86 %
Tomatometer
Template ImageTemplate Image

How does the Tomatometer work Help Icon

Reviews Counted:70

Fresh:60

Rotten:10

Average Rating:7.1/10

Consensus: Featuring Patton Oswalt's sympathetic portrayal, Big Fan humorously and effectively captures the dark and lonely world of a sports fanatic.

Rated: R [See Full Rating] for language and some sexuality.

Genre: Dramas

Theatrical Release:Aug 28, 2009 Limited

Box Office: $105,339

Synopsis: Paul Aufiero, a 35-year-old parking-garage attendant from Staten Island, is the self-described "world's biggest New York Giants fan". He lives at home with his mother, spending his off hours... Paul Aufiero, a 35-year-old parking-garage attendant from Staten Island, is the self-described "world's biggest New York Giants fan". He lives at home with his mother, spending his off hours calling in to local sports-radio station 760 The Zone, where he rants in support of his beloved team, often against his mysterious on-air rival, Eagles fan Philadelphia Phil. His family berates him for doing nothing with his life, but they don't understand the depth of his love of the Giants or the responsibility his fandom carries.

One night, Paul and his best friend Sal spot Giants star linebacker Quantrell Bishop at a gas station in their neighborhood. They impulsively follow his limo into Manhattan, to a strip club, where they hang in the background, agog at their hero. Paul cautiously decides to approach him, stepping into the rarefied air of football stardom--and things do not go as planned.

The fallout of this chance encounter brings Paul's world crashing down around him as his family, the team, the media and the authorities engage in a tug of war over Paul, testing his allegiances and calling into question everything he believes in. Meanwhile, the Giants march toward a late-season showdown with the Eagles, unaware that sometimes the most brutal struggles take place far from the field of play.

Following up his first filmed screenplay, THE WRESTLER, writer-director Robert Siegel once again demonstrates a unique and potent vision of the human experience, in all of it its harsh truths and hopeful humanity. --© First Independent Films [More]

Starring: Patton Oswalt, Kevin Corrigan, Michael Rapaport, Marcia Jean Kurtz

Starring: Patton Oswalt, Kevin Corrigan, Michael Rapaport, Marcia Jean Kurtz, Matt Servitto, Serafina Fiore, Gino Cafarelli, Jonathan Hamm, Polly Humphreys, Scott Ferrall

Director: Robert Siegel

Director: Robert Siegel
Screenwriter: Robert Siegel
Producer: Jean Kouremetis, Elan Bogarin
Composer: Philip Watts
Studio: First Independent Pictures

[See More Credits]

  • Trailers
  • Pictures
  • Packet Collector
    >
    Trailer
    >
1 - 2 of 2

See More Movie Trailers & Pictures

Get This Movie

Rent DVD
 
 

Click on the "ADD" button to put this movie into your Netflix queue.

 
 
Buy DVD
 
 
Release:

Jan 12, 2010

[DVD Details]
 
 

DVD Features:

  • Region [unknown]
 
 
 
 

Reviews for Big Fan

  • T-Meter Critics
  • Top Critics
  • RT Community
  • My Critics
  • My Friends
  • DVD
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 >> >|
Arrange By:Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 

Writer-director Robert D. Siegel grew up listening to callers like Paul on The FAN, New York City's all-sports radio, and he gives us a bizarrely sympathetic portrait of a guy who is as devout and as obsessive as any religious fanatic.

Full Review Source: Film.com | comment Comment
11/22/09
Jonathan F. Richards
Jonathan F. Richards
Film.com
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

What makes Paul fascinating isn't how pathetic he is. It's how dignified he thinks he is, and how that knit blue cap with "NY" on the front gives his life meaning.

Full Review Source: Capital Times (Madison, WI) | comment Comment
11/13/09
Rob Thomas
Rob Thomas
Capital Times (Madison, WI)

Screenwriter Siegel, directing his first film, lavishes as much attention on forty-year-old virgin Paul as he did on "Randy the Ram" in The Wrestler.

Full Review Source: East Bay Express | comment Comment
10/23/09
Kelly Vance
Kelly Vance
East Bay Express

It's a classic situation, transplanted to a small, petty arena. When I think of this movie, I think of Oswalt, how his anguish feels real (whether we understand it or not) and how his face unaccountably becomes an offbeat locus of dignity.

Full Review Source: San Francisco Chronicle | comment Comment
10/23/09
Mick LaSalle
Mick LaSalle
San Francisco Chronicle
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

...Siegel seems more interested in exhibiting Paul as a not-so-rare species of delusional male thwartedness than granting him an interior life, but it's still a powerful and interesting bit of sociology.

Full Review Source: Arkansas Democrat-Gazette | comment Comment
10/18/09
Philip Martin
Philip Martin
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

A Strong, Tightly-Wound Character Study That Suffers Minimally From Its 1st-Time Director.

Full Review Source: Film Snobs | comment Comment
10/11/09
Jimmy O
Jimmy O
Film Snobs

Cliched New York type of creepy/funny film that might only appeal to the male sports fan.

Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews | comment Comment
10/08/09
Dennis Schwartz
Dennis Schwartz
Ozus' World Movie Reviews

Though not without its problems, it is not a film that's easy to forget about, nor do its questions all answer themselves at once.

Full Review Source: Antagony & Ecstasy | comment Comment
10/07/09
Tim Brayton
Tim Brayton
Antagony & Ecstasy

Big Fan stretches credulity in spots, but for the most part, it manages to keep its eye on the ball.

Full Review Source: Creative Loafing | comment Comment
10/05/09
Matt Brunson
Matt Brunson
Creative Loafing

Though the movie isn’t much to look at, he gets a credibly dark and pathetic performance from the typically comic Oswalt.

Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | comment Comment
10/02/09
J. R. Jones
J. R. Jones
Chicago Reader
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Oswalt's performance alone makes Big Fan worth seeing.

Full Review Source: Movie Retriever | comment Comment
10/02/09
Brian Tallerico
Brian Tallerico
Movie Retriever

Siegel takes us to the brink of operatic melodrama, then lands us in a tragicomic spot: a psychological landscape of alternate life and make-believe death.

Full Review Source: Baltimore Sun | comment Comment
10/02/09
Michael Sragow
Michael Sragow
Baltimore Sun

Wrings pain out of heartbreaking truths, and steamrolls to an unpredictable conclusion that's suspenseful, mildly coincidental, but gut-wrenchingly sad.

Full Review Source: Charlotte Weekly | comment Comment
10/02/09
Sean O'Connell
Sean O'Connell
Charlotte Weekly

Engaging truth: You may need your favorite team more than it needs you.

Full Review Source: Metromix.com | comment Comment
10/01/09
Matt Pais
Matt Pais
Metromix.com

A comedy with dark undertones, it asks: What kind of a man listens to and calls sports talk radio compulsively, even at 2 a.m.? Even out of season? Even on, say, Thanksgiving? He should get a life, do you think?

Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | comment Comment
10/01/09
Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Big Fan, however, sticks to its guns and gives in to none of the sappiness or redemptive qualities of The Wrestler.

Full Review Source: Austin Chronicle | comment Comment
09/25/09
Marjorie Baumgarten
Marjorie Baumgarten
Austin Chronicle

In his first starring role, Oswalt, a stand-up comedian whose trademark persona is part comic-book geek and part frat-house hedonist, inhabits a character who is both painfully familiar and poignantly alone.

Full Review Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch | comment Comment
09/25/09
Joe Williams
Joe Williams
St. Louis Post-Dispatch

[Siegel's] directorial debut has a real ring of truth to it, and benefits from having a terrific cast. Thanks to Oswalt, we like Paul more than we probably should.

Full Review Source: Deseret News, Salt Lake City | comment Comment
09/24/09
Jeff Vice
Jeff Vice
Deseret News, Salt Lake City

...expected a typical obsessed sports fan flick but writer and first-time director Robert D. Siegel gives us more, and entertains too.

Full Review Source: Reeling Reviews | comment Comment
09/23/09
Robin Clifford
Robin Clifford
Reeling Reviews

At times Siegel makes his film painfully brutal at other times it feels like a savage black comedy. Yet Siegel never lets Paul become a mere character type.

Full Review Source: KPBS.org | comment Comment
09/20/09
Beth Accomando
Beth Accomando
KPBS.org
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 >> >|
all

Latest News for Big Fan

August 27, 2009: Critics Consensus: Guess Halloween 2's Tomatometer!
This week at the movies, we've got the return of Michael Myers (Halloween 2, starring Malcolm McDowell and Scout Taylor-Compton), three dimensional fatalities (The Final... More...

July 12, 2009: Trailer & Poster review Opens in new window
More...

July 07, 2009: Trailer Bulletin: Big Fan Opens in new window
Patton Oswalt has a new movie coming out, and, well...it's nothing like "Ratatouille." Watch the trailer for "Big Fan" now! More...

February 27, 2009: Patton Oswalt Talks Big Fan, Funny People, and More Opens in new window
Patton Oswalt is a very funny man -- and also a capable dramatic actor, as underscored by his new film "Big Fan," which he discussed (among many other projects) in a recent... More...

See All

More DVDs

Close
Top Rentals
Tomatometer Percentage Movie
15% 15% The Ugly Truth
98% 98% Up
36% 36% G.I. Joe: The Rise of …
52% 52% The Taking of Pelham 1…
45% 45% Ice Age: Dawn of the D…

More Rentals…

New On DVD This Week
Tomatometer Percentage Movie
36% 36% Angels & Demons
68% 68% Funny People
25% 25% Four Christmases
45% 45% Shorts

More New Releases…

See All

RT On Current TV

The Rotten Tomatoes Show on Current TV

DIRECTV 358 | Comcast 107 | DISH Network 196 | More...

Learn how you can be part of the show

More...

What’s Hot On RT

Total Recall

Total Recall

John Travolta's top reviewed movies

Disney Countdown

Disney Countdown

Look back on Disney's best animated movies!

RT's Gift Guide

RT's Gift Guide

Give the best movies, gear, and more!

What's Coming Out

What's Coming Out

Find movies for the holiday weekend!

Other News

Close
  • Top Stories
  • Popular
  • Interviews
 
 

Comments

 
 
Top Stories
Headlines Comments
  
  • First Look (Sort Of) at New Nightmare's Freddy Source: ShockTillYouDrop.com
6
  • First Look at Shrek Forever After Source: USA Today
14
  • Woody Harrelson Will Battle Zombies in 3-D Source: Moviehole
10
  • Natalie Portman Says Kat Denning Is in Thor Source: MTV
34
  • Disney Restructuring Has Broad Implications Source: Los Angeles Times
10
  • Joel Silver Talks Ninja Assassin, Sgt. Rock, Lobo, and More Source: Collider.com
1
  • Weekly Ketchup: Idris Elba cast in Thor, more Spider-Man 4 rumors
116
  • Idris Elba Joins Thor Source: Hollywood Reporter
112
  • Jackass 3D Coming in 2010? Source: Collider.com
32
  • 6 Reasons 'Twilight' Is Doomed Source: The Wrap
64
Popular
Headlines Comments
  
  • Box Office Guru Wrapup: New Moon Shatters Records
176
  • Critics Consensus: New Moon Wanes
130
  • Tomatometer Watch: Will Twilight's New Moon Dazzle?
97
  • Total Recall: Star-Crossed Lovers
75
  • Total Recall: John Travolta's Best Movies
72
  • Weekly Ketchup: Idris Elba cast in Thor, more Spider-Man 4 rumors
58
  • Critics Consensus: Flee From Ninja Assassin
35
  • Friday Harvest: New Moon, Avatar, and more!
32
  • WB offers DVD to Blu-ray Trade-In Program
21
  • RT on DVD & Blu-Ray: Angels & Demons, Funny People, and Superman
18
Interviews
Headlines Comments
  
  • "I Don't Hate Women": Lars von Trier on Antichrist
13
  • Eric Bana talks Love the Beast - RT Interview
9
  • Fight Club Sound Designer Reflects on Film's 10th Anniversary
19
  • James Schamus talks Taking Woodstock - RT Interview
6
  • John Hurt Talks Harry Potter, Quentin Crisp and Alien - The RT Interview
15
  • Terry Gilliam Talks Doctor Parnassus
20
  • Wes Anderson Talks Fantastic Mr. Fox - RT Interview
8
  • Wolverine Creator Len Wein Talks About the Film
28
  • Gavin Hood Talks Wolverine; Possible Sequel
28
  • Duncan Jones talks Moon, Sam Rockwell, and Mute
14
 
 

Sponsored Links

Around The Network

  • Big Fan at Rotten Tomatoes
  • Big Fan at IGN

Fresh Links

Featured
Wes Anderson on Fox
Wes Anderson on Fox External Link

The director talks about puppetry perfection and his film, Fantastic Mr. Fox

The New Cult Canon
The New Cult Canon External Link

AV Club looks at a beloved cult classic, Sam Raimi's Army of Darkness.

New Moon Portraits
New Moon Portraits External Link

TIME offers us a closer look at the characters from the latest Twilight film.

Unsexiest Men Alive
Unsexiest Men Alive External Link

Moviefone lists their choices for the least attractive men in Hollywood.

Promos
Follow RT on Twitter
Follow RT on Twitter External Link

Get the latest Tomatometer updates on upcoming movies!

 
 
About| Site Map| Help| RT To Go| Contact Us| Critics Submission| Linking to RT| Licensing| Movie List| Games| Celebs List| Newsletter
IGN Logo

IGN.com | GameSpy | Comrade | Arena | FilePlanet | GameSpy Technology
TeamXbox | Planets | Vaults | VE3D | CheatsCodesGuides | GameStats | GamerMetrics
AskMen.com | Rotten Tomatoes | Direct2Drive | Green Pixels


By continuing past this page, and by the continued use of this site, you agree to be bound by and abide by the User Agreement.
Copyright 1998-2009, IGN Entertainment, Inc. About IGN | Support | Advertise | Privacy Policy | User Agreement | Subscribe to RT's XML feed! IGN RSS Feeds
IGN's enterprise databases running Oracle, SQL and MySQL are professionally monitored and managed by Pythian Remote DBA
Certain product data ©1995-present Muze, Inc. For personal use only. All rights reserved.