PERHAPS IT DEPENDS on how you feel about The Wrestler.
The Oscar-nominated film starring Mickey Rourke was loudly praised for
Darren Aronofsky’s naturalistic, Rocky-style direction and its
clever take on the moral rebirth of a fallen professional wrestler.
However, the script itself—written by Robert D.
Siegel—received fewer accolades, primarily because of a
simplistic, paint-by-numbers plot. Regardless, based on The
Wrestler‘s success, Siegel has now been given the keys to the car,
writing and directing the new Patton Oswalt vehicle Big
Fan—a film which, while wildly similar in style and tone to
The Wrestler, ain’t no Wrestler.
Comedian Oswalt—who has shown great range recently in both TV
and film—stars as Paul Aufiero, a nebbish, obsessive New York
Giants fan who works as a parking garage attendant and is a minor
celebrity on the local sports radio talk show, thanks to his vitriolic
monologues that sing the eternal praises of his favorite team.
Unfortunately, that’s all he has going for him. Paul still lives with
his naggy mom, and is under constant scrutiny from his “successful”
relatives to get a real job and a girlfriend. However, everything
changes after Paul meets his favorite Giants player, Quantrell Bishop
(Jonathan Hamm), who, in a coke-fueled rage, beats the ever-loving shit
out of Paul, sending his biggest fan into a three-day coma.
And herein lies the moral crux of the film: Does Paul rat out his
hero, putting his favorite team’s chances of going to the Super Bowl in
jeopardy? Or does he excuse the actions of his one true love, keeping
the abusive prick out of prison?
The most interesting aspects of Big Fan lie in Oswalt’s
performance: He plays Paul with just the right mixture of pathos and
creepiness, and Paul’s obsessiveness is understandable (partly because
you can’t throw a rock without hitting a sports bar filled with exactly
this type of person). And while the idea of pro football fans being a
metaphor for victims of domestic abuse is initially clever, it
eventually comes off as ham-fisted—which was kind of the problem
with The Wrestler, yes?
It’s understandable for Siegel—still a cinematic
neophyte—to ape the style of his first success. But Big
Fan is far too similar in style and tone to The Wrestler for
my taste. And while Big Fan‘s questionable ending may be
unexpected, the buildup to that finale is a predictable journey that
aims for the Oscar, but receives a big “Ehh” instead.
