Independent Film Festival Boston 2009

Director Robert Siegel and actor Kevin Corrigan in attendance.

The knee-Jerk label “armchair quarterback” does not do someone like Paul Aufiero (Patton Oswalt) justice. Sure, he isn’t remotely athletic, he lives with his mom, he works in a Staten Island parking garage––but the New York Giants are what gets him through the mundanity, and he pays them back by vehemently defending their honor whenever he sees it threatened. Overshadowed by his siblings and their more exalted career choices (e.g., ambulance chaser, Price Club manager), Paul takes solace in his friendship with Sal (Kevin Corrigan), the one person who understands his greatest passion. Paul’s very life is defined by the games, until a chance spotting of his favorite player, Quantrell Bishop (Jonathan Hamm), gives rise to an encounter between the two that…er…does not end well.

The last thing the team needs is to lose its star player to a legal kerfuffle, and Paul knows it. Does he have it in him to sacrifice his body, his dignity, and his rights for the thrill of vicarious victory on the field? Do his loved ones have it in them to let him?

Nominated for the 2009 Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival, BIG FAN represents the directorial debut of Robert Siegel, the screenwriter behind THE ONION MOVIE and this year’s critically acclaimed hit THE WRESTLER.

- Sandra L. Frey

Screening supported by AltCom Alternative Comedy Festival