Big Fan

Comedian Patton Oswalt triumphantly nails every comic and dramatic nuance as Paul Aufiero, a New York Giants obsessive who has long ago moved from fan to fanatic. At 36, Paul still lives with Mom, works a dead-end job at a parking garage, and stays up nights prepping football rants to deliver on a radio call-in show. Paul's only support is his pal Sal (an outstanding Kevin Corrigan), who joins Paul as he stalks Giant linebacker Quantrell Bishop (Jonathan Hamm) into a Manhattan strip club, where Paul comes on too strong and gets his ass kicked. Brutally. Bishop is suspended, but the fan won't sue. He has his reasons. Paul is a setup for an easy joke on losers. That the joke never comes is a tribute to writer Robert Siegel (The Wrestler), who makes a potent directing debut with a scrappy movie that refuses to sentimentalize or ridicule its besieged hero worshipper. His pain, like his loneliness, is palpably real.

(Click here for more news and reviews from Peter Travers on the Travers Take)