The obsessive nature of fans is too deeply rooted in the film to appeal to anyone outside the club

Popscorn Quiz

• Do you like football?
• Do you like character-driven dramas?
• Did The Wrestler leave you wanting more?
• Can you relate to pathetic losers?

If you answered Yes to all of the above questions, Big Fan might be the film for you. If you answered Yes to only one question, Big Fan might fill you with the desire to gouge out your eyeballs with a spoon.

Writer and director Robert D. Siegel isn’t pulling any muscles with the broad themes at play in Big Fan: loser has one shot at something wonderful, but luck isn’t on his side. If it sounds familiar, perhaps it’s because Siegel is still coaching out of his old playbook – the one he used when writing The Wrestler. The change for Big Fan is that the loser isn’t trying to reclaim the spotlight, but rather he’s always outside the ring. Or I should say the stadium, since Paul (Patton Oswalt) can’t actually afford tickets and listens to the Giants play from the parking lot with loser pal Sal (Kevin Corrigan). When Paul gets a shot at meeting his favorite player ( Jonathan Hamm) it all goes terribly wrong. (In a strip club nonetheless; I kept looking for Marisa Tomei to strut on stage.)

The biggest difference between Big Fan and The Wrestler is that as a director, Siegel is never able to transcend the film’s subject matter. Football is a character in the film; the routines, the rituals, the obsessive nature of fans is too deeply rooted in the film to appeal to anyone outside the club. However in The Wrestler, the sport was a vehicle for a meaningful, dark, downright painful, story of a man. Siegel – and Oswalt for that matter – never get off first base in this effort. (Did I mess up my sports metaphors?)

None of this is meant to say that Oswalt’s performance is not engaging and sometimes poignant. Quite the opposite, because it’s the only redeeming portion of the film to a non-pigskin lover. While it’s tough to know if Paul is merely stunted in his development or suffers from greater afflictions, Oswalt’s performance of an underdog is solid. He allows you to both pity and judge Paul, which can be a tough line to toe.

Siegel touches on some interesting topics in the film – the idealization of heroes, what defines one as a man, and even racial issues are laid on the table for a brief minute – but he never completes the pass on any of them. While he is able to infuse some wonderful touches to the film that capture Paul’s less than stellar life, and the little things that Paul’s family embraces as proof of their success, they are mere flashes that illuminate the film’s other weaknesses.

Big Fan is for those who are already big fans. For everyone else, it’s no big deal.