Patton Oswalt as a small man who roots for Giants.

Robert Siegel follows up The Wrestler with this dark comedy about an obsessive football fan, making the screenwriter a patron saint of sorts for emotionally stunted men who can’t express their feelings unless they’re in the presence of organized violence. Siegel also debuts as a director with Big Fan, in which 36-year-old Staten Island parking attendant Paul Aufiero (played perfectly by Patton Oswalt) subsists on a steady diet of sugared drinks, comfort food and nonstop adoration for the New York Giants. Paul’s meager life is thrown into disarray when a chance meeting with his greatest football hero leads to him being brutally beaten by his idol.

The character of Paul, someone who can’t even measure up to the mundane standards of the everyman, isn’t without antecedents. He’s Marty Piletti, but not looking for love. He’s Travis Bickle, but not out for blood. He’s Rupert Pupkin, but without the career goals. He’s just really a very powerless man who lives vicariously through the giants (and Giants) he feels he can never be.

The film, leavened only slightly in the latter stages, is another example of Siegel’s abundant talent and a good reason to fast-track Oswalt into a slew of dramatic roles.

Read Afflictor’s Top 20 Films of the Aughts list.