I kinda want some buffalo wings.

First off, and just kind of as a silly little note, I can't believe the NFL agreed to this movie. Actual teams and logos are all over this movie, indeed key points to the storyline. Meanwhile, the NFL is notoriously picky about lending out its image and property to anything that isn't entirely family-friendly and in line with their own agenda, which is quite commercial and not concerned with independent cinema. So I guess it's kinda cool to see the No Fun League allow Patton Oswalt to wear a Giants jersey while he cusses up a storm and looks just generally unappealing. But that doesn't matter. Just something I kinda wanted to point out. We're here to discuss is the 2009 picture Big Fan, and its merits, or lack thereof.
I'll say straight away that I don't think this film is particularly genius or groundbreaking or anything like that. It lives in an established indie film format of grey skies, masturbation scenes and humbling dialogue. But I'm not complaining about that. The movies that Big Fan takes after are generally fine films and it is in good company. But - and this is the nicest thing I will say about this movie - it is very easily misunderstood, and generally much better than it actually seems. I know, that's kind of a stupid thing to say, so I'll try to clear it up.
I've found that many viewers of this black dramady find it to be a story about blind fandom, or worse, a movie specifically about the stupidity of sports fans. That view is simply incorrect. Yes, this is a "football movie," if you really want to call it that. Go ahead. But it's gonna look pretty weird on the shelf next to Any Given Sunday and Rudy. No, Big Fan is more of a story about social pressure, and the anxieties that one suffers while asserting an identity within a given culture. Our main character here is Paul, who resents his greedy, secretary-fucking brother and lives with his increasingly discouraged mother. Paul has very little concern for what an American class system expects from him, as he sits at his small time job, literally scripting his AM radio rants about the one culture he likes and has chosen to embrace: New York Giants fandom. He and his best friend are diehards, but, unable to afford tickets, spend the home games in the stadium parking lot, listening on the radio. Yeah, they're pathetic, but that never becomes a problem.
Eventually, shit goes down, and Paul is put in the awkward position where the one society he likes has (violently) handed him an opportunity to turn his back on it. To do so would be a bit of self-assertion he could probably use, but in the life he lives, self-assertion and individuality are downright contrary to his values. He lives in the background of his own life and probably always will. However, he's happy this way, and the film takes 90 minutes of what-the-fuckery for us to finally arrive at this.
There are some very strange moments in Big Fan and I can say that Paul is put in a position that is rare in cinema or storytelling at all. Yes, his predicament has to do with professional sports and celebrity, but I still think this movie is only barely about football. In fact, we never the the sport played at all. Football is an abstraction in Big Fan. It exists on the radio, and as a bunch of logos on Paul's security blanket.
Yes, Patton Oswalt gives a good performance. Everyone does. The direction is good, all that. It's very well cast, and the locations and scenery are perfect. Essentially, Big Fan is an agreeable film. Though unremarkable for the most part, it is also standout for asking an established question of conformity while giving an odd example.