Big Fan
First Independent Pictures | Release Date: August 28, 2009 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
70
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 27 Critic Reviews
Positive:
21
Mixed:
6
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
91
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
The movie is an unblinking look at the hidden (or perhaps not so hidden) pathology of American sports mania. Read full review
90
Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan
Starring an ideally cast Patton Oswalt in the title role, Big Fan is a poignant, dead-on character study, an examination of a crisis in the life of the most die-hard of die-hard New York Giants football fans. Read full review
88
Boston GlobeTy Burr
A bleakly funny character study of a very particular species of urban fauna - the sports radio call-in fanatic - Big Fan’ is compulsively watchable. Read full review
88
St. Louis Post-DispatchJoe Williams
Near the two-minute warning, Big Fan becomes chillingly unpredictable. Read full review
88
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
One of the more thought-provoking sports movies I've seen. Read full review
83
The A.V. ClubNoel Murray
Because the audience isn’t privy to the hero’s thoughts, the final 15 minutes or so of Big Fan are white-knuckle. Read full review
83
Portland OregonianMarc Mohan
Oswalt sells Auferio's pasty indecision and makes him a more sympathetic figure than he has any right to be. Read full review
80
Time OutDavid Fear
Unlike "The Wrestler," which Siegel scripted, Big Fan has a way of making a socially marginal figure seem oddly charismatic without stacking the sympathy deck. Read full review
80
The New York TimesManohla Dargis
A spasmodically funny and bleak film about the love that speaks its name. Read full review
75
Rolling StonePeter Travers
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. Read full review
75
PremiereStaff (Not credited)
There are some very funny parts but this isn’t a typical sports comedy. Read full review
75
Philadelphia InquirerSteven Rea
Siegel, in his debut as director, shot the low-budget Big Fan on a digital camera and achieves an appropriately grimy, gritty look. He has an eye for the telling detail and for the comedy in tragedy. Read full review
75
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
Structured as a comedy, albeit a dark one. Read full review
75
New York PostKyle Smith
Superb Noo Yawk attitude, dialogue and performances (including one from the essential Kevin Corrigan, now well into his second decade of being indie movies' dirtbag on demand) keep the movie lively and tart. Read full review
75
Baltimore SunMichael Sragow
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. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle
Sad, funny and painfully honest. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterDuane Byrge
It's an unsettling, "Taxi Driver"-like character study that shows the underside to hero worship and the primal world of professional football. Read full review
70
VarietyTodd McCarthy
It's a small, peculiar film, one unlikely to appeal much to women, non-sports fans and mainstreamers, but its uncomfortable comic insights should win it a loyal following. Read full review
70
SlateDana Stevens
With its unremittingly bleak humor and eagerness to plumb the depths of fanboy abjection, Big Fan seems destined for a future in the cult canon. Read full review
70
Chicago ReaderJ.R. Jones
Though the movie isn’t much to look at, he (Siegel) gets a credibly dark and pathetic performance from the typically comic Oswalt. Read full review
67
Christian Science MonitorPeter Rainer
Oswalt captures the rabidness of the die-hard fan, the kind you can hear at any moment on the sports talk shows. Read full review
60
Film ThreatWhitney Borup
Comes across as a little uneven, but far from unsatisfactory. Patton Oswalt is sympathetic (at times heart breaking) and makes the film completely worth watching. Read full review
50
Village VoiceVadim Rizov
It takes considerable effort to make Darren Aronofsky seem like a model of restraint, but Robert Siegel pulls it off in Big Fan. Read full review
50
Washington PostAnn Hornaday
Siegel's depiction of the film's supporting characters too often borders on caricature. By the movie's strained, overheated climax, it's clear that Siegel, in his directing debut, is less interested in his protagonist as a character capable of transformation than as a human petri dish of futility and pathology. Read full review
50
Austin ChronicleMarjorie Baumgarten
One thing Siegel got absolutely right in this film is the casting. Read full review
50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Rick Groen
This is a flick whose failures are at least as interesting as the successes. Read full review
40
New York Daily NewsJoe Neumaier
The movie gets repetitive, and when it calls an audible and goes somewhere unexpected, it pulls back quickly. Too bad. Read full review
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