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What’s wrong with this picture? Let’s see - a 35 year old sports fanatic, living with his mother, working as a parking lot attendant. Well, absolutely nothing is wrong with this picture! Except of course, for his mom who has to put up with his midnight sports radio telephone rants (and wads of tissue).

Sometimes sports fans remind me of religious fanatics. They are a devoted lot – reverently attending/watching weekly games, talking about the games excessively, prognosticating and then playing Monday morning quarterback. Paul Aufiero (comedian Patton Oswalt) is 35 years old living on Staten Island, working as a parking garage attendant and spending his free time scripting exactly what to say to a call-in sports radio program. He is the quintessential New York Giants fan – his wardrobe consisting of “Dallas Sucks” t-shirts. This is a guy who salts his pizza and adds sugar to his soda.

His room is decorated in an early sports motif – right down to the covers of his NFL-clad blanket. In the wee morning hours, he calls into the local sports-radio station “The Zone,” hosted by Sports Dogg (Howard Stern devotees will recognize the voice of Scott Ferrall). I think you get the picture.

One day, while driving around town with his buddy Sal (Kevin Corrigan), they spy their hero, Giants linebacker Quantrell Bishop (Jonathan Hamm in his acting debut) at a gas station on Staten Island. Excited beyond words, they do what any devoted fan would – they follow him. Their first stop is a rundown house in a questionable neighborhood, but soon they’re back on the road and tail him to a Manhattan strip club. They grab a seat near their idol and send him a drink as a sign of camaraderie. When they approach Quantrell (sporting a Flavor-Flav sized gold QB necklace) the scene turns ugly and Aufiero is assaulted.

The violent altercation between the fan and QB leaves Paul beaten and hospitalized.  Bishop is benched until an investigation can be completed, leaving Paul in a paradoxical position. For the first time in his life, he’s in the spotlight and his police report may play a role in determining the destiny of his beloved team. Fate is indeed cruel.

Written and directed by Robert Siegel (writer of The Wrestler), he makes his directorial debut with Big Fan. As the former Editor-in-Chief of The Onion, he brings his dark, satirical sense humor to the big screen for which he received a nomination for a Grand Jury Prize at Sundance.

And although it’s categorized as a drama, I apologize to the guy seated next to me on the plane to Seattle, because I heartily laughed for one and ½ hours. Hey, at least it was better then listening to a baby cry.

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