Big Fan

I'm excited about “Big Fan,” Robert Siegel's new film about an obsessed New York Giants fan who equates the team's win-loss record with his own lot in life. The film, which opens this weekend, stars Patton Oswalt, one of the funniest mother fuckers working today. It's getting some good early reviews, and Oswalt is plugging the hell out of it. The other day, he spoke with Bill Simmons on one of the Sports Guy’s podcasts. During their hour-long conversation, Oswalt touched on just about everything, from his new film, his career, sports films, Comic-Con, comedy and, around the 13-minute mark, how "Friday Night Lights" is arguably one of the best television shows ever written. (“My wife and I were just feeding the DVDs. You can’t stop watching it. It’s just so amazing. Connie Britton and Kyle Chandler. I don’t know why they just don’t give them the Emmys. Just give it to them.”)

"Big Fan" isn’t a sports movie, per se. At its heart, it’s a film about obsession, and how the obsessed—whether it’s sports enthusiasts, foodies, comic book geeks, or as Oswalt told the Sports guys, cinemaphiles, want to disappear completely in their hobbies. “Unlike a Travis Bickle,” Oswalt said of his character, “he’s not desperately trying to reach out and connect to the world. He’s actually built such a comfortable and complete shell, his battle is with the people who are trying to get him to come out of it.”

I think that’s exactly right. If a fan's not careful, sports can take over your life. A point made almost daily on New York's sports radio. The other afternoon a caller phoned in to Mike Francesa to talk about Joba Chamberlain. Before he made his point, he offhandedly mentioned that he was in between trips to the hospital, where his wife, the poor girl, was delivering their first child. The caller figured he had time to offer his two cents on Joba’s recent pitching performances, in between contractions, I guess.

"We all have these passions, and most of us use them to enhance our lives," Oswalt recently told the "Los Angeles Times." "But for some people, they replace a life. When it takes over and you start wanting to exclude people, you've gone to an ugly place."