Robert D. Siegel, 2009
plot synopsis: Paul Aufiero, a hardcore New York Giants football fan, struggles to deal with the consequences when he is beaten up by his favorite player.
Unlike his breakout script The Wrestler, which created a real heart (and sadness) about the world of amateur wrestling, Robert D. Siegel’s sophomore effort (and directorial debut) never made me care about the fringe group of people he focuses on here; obsessive (sometimes scarily so) football fans. The script also can’t ever really seem to decide on it’s tone; is this a black comedy? A drama? Hell, a thriller? A lot of people have called the film disturbing, but I feel like whenever it came close to making me uncomfortable, really oddly placed bits of humor were tossed in to lighten the mood. On the acting front, Oswalt is fantastic; there’ s absolutely no denying that. If you’ve ever listened to a sports call-in show, you know how much he nailed this character. His interactions with his mother (Marcia Jean Kurtz) are particularly good. Unfortunately, the rest of the cast (his extended family in particular) never seem to come across as anything more than poorly drawn caricatures.
A film for the performance, and not much else.
it absolutely nailed the die-hard NFL fan personality. But as you said, once you look past Oswalt there isn’t too much else worthwhile.