First Independent Pictures a ‘Big Fan’ of Robert Siegel’s Debut

An accurate, sometimes unnerving portrait of fanaticism, I think many of the Sundance critic confreres that I discussed screenwriter Robert Siegel‘s directorial debut with, were as equally pleasantly surprised by the quality of the picture. What was often referenced was the film’s tone – there is a point in Big Fan where one feels that it will go into Taxi Driver-esque territory. It was a picture I was strongly considered adding to my best of Sundance leftovers (films that did not get picked up) and if I were to write the same piece today, I’d have reason not to include it. Note: Siegel is the writer behind The Wrestler.

Today, an independent label that I’m hoping can stay in the game to market the sometimes unmarketable (they just released Gigantic), First Independent Pictures announced the acquisition of Big Fan for an eventual “late summer to early fall” release as reported by Indiewire. Personally I’d time it two weeks before the start of the NFL season.

Patton Oswalt plays Paul Aufiero, a hardcore New York Giants football fan, struggles to deal with the consequences when he is beaten up by his favorite player. The film also stars Kevin Corrigan and Michael Rapaport, and was lensed by Michael Simmonds who did a great job at lighting the scenes. Here was my initial thoughts on the film as part of my Sundance coverage.