Every now and then, a weird little indie film comes along to remind us that deep within the cluttered heavens sparkle lesser (but no less wonderful) stars - actors who, when put in front of the right lens, shine as bright as any Clooney, Pitt or McAdams.
Big Fan is just such a film, and if it doesn't vault comic actor/writer Patton Oswalt (best known for his stand-up, sketch-comedy roles and decade-long stint as a sidekick on The King of Queens ) into a whole new actor orbit, there is not only no justice in Hollywood, but nobody with eyes connected to their brains.
Oswalt's portrayal of Paul, a football-obsessed New Yorker who lives vicariously through his favourite team (until fate brings him face to fist with a star quarterback), is heartbreakingly naked and more than a little unsettling. We all know a Paul - a stunted "kidult" whose fan-boy obsessions have overtaken his life, turning him into a passive bystander.
As the inevitable tragedy looming in Big Fan unfolds, the viewer rarely gets a moment, a single frame, that is not filled with Oswalt's cherubic face; and the actor meets the challenge, every unflattering moment, with a performance that is so bald it practically dares you to look away. Step by step, Paul the shrugging loser becomes a taut balloon filled with frustrated rage, a balloon waiting for a pin.
I know nothing about sports - do such crazed fans really exist?
According to sports fans I've spoken to, and sports writers, they very much exist. This film is based on Robert's [Siegel, Big Fan 's writer-director]experience listening to late-night sports call-in shows, listening to the voices of people who clearly didn't have much of a life outside of this.
What motivates these fans?
Oh, man - that, I have no idea. If I were to take a guess, it would be that whole thing of, you know, you feel you don't mean much in the world and you want to take up more space in the world, have a bigger place in the whole scheme of things, so you create an obsession bigger than yourself. But, maybe I'm wrong. I don't know what motivates people period, it's so weird.
One of the things that puzzled me was why Paul and his best friend would only watch the games from a television hooked up in the stadium parking lot - wouldn't they want to be near their heroes?
In this guy's mind, it would be an insult to the team to be a part of the hoi polloi, because he has to worship in a quieter way, farther away. He thinks he's even more special than the other fans. Again, that's my theory. I could be wrong. Paul thinks he's a little bit more on the ball than other people.
Why do so many U.S. indie films convey a love/hate relationship with America's working class?
Because it's where most people come from, filmmakers and actors alike, and a lot of times there's a love/hate relationship because there's the frustration that these people [the working class]are out doing things that keep the world going, so that we can make our precious little indie movies, and yet the working class gets screwed over so much, and they don't ever really think to protect themselves.
But, a lot of times it's for bad reasons too - you know, some trust fund smart-aleck going "look at these suburban grotesques," or the filmmakers are trying to hate the thing they've been running away from their whole lives. I tour the Midwest a lot, and I get very frustrated when I see people being manipulated by the cynics in power.
What does it take out of you to play such a beaten-down person?
Well, I didn't really think of Paul as being beaten down, I thought of him being in this kind of void, sort of a happy void, in a weird way. So, instead of trying to play it like, "Oh, I'm so hurt," I would sort of play it like, "Can't people see that I'm the only one here who has reached a state of grace, and the rest of you are trying to drag me down?" He does say at one point in the script, "I don't want all the things other people have."
If you reject everything, than by default you're going to reject a lot of bad stuff. It's nobility by default.
And yet, there are many cringe-inducing scenes in this film, where Paul is horribly humiliated. You display a level of vulnerability most actors can't or won't show .
I can't really speak for other actors, but I just really, really liked the script - I liked how non-judgmental it was, so I decided to go into it just as non-judgmentally. I've done some episodic television that was raw and weird, but this is definitely the most dramatically intense thing I've done.
Why is Paul so stalled, so stuck?
You know, I'm not gonna answer that. It's not answered in the script, and Robert never told me, but I think there's enough clues that you can kinda figure it out, but that's going to have to be for you to figure out. It's none of my business. I have my own ideas, and I played those ideas, but it's not for me to tell you.
I really hope you get to play a hero in your next movie .
Aww, thanks. All I want to do is stuff that's really, really fun. If I got to work with a great director, that would be great, but if I got to do some crappy B-movie horror movie with a lot of failed actors, and the whole shoot was becoming a nightmare, that, to me, would also be such a blast. Ha! I would love every second of that. I would love to be involved in a doomed production, because I'm just in this for the money and the anecdotes.