Critic's Notebook

MOVIE REVIEW
Big Fan (2009)

By ROBERT LEVIN

First Independent Pictures

Paul Auferio (Patton Oswalt), the eponymous “Big Fan” of “The Wrestler” screenwriter and former editor-in-chief of the Onion Robert Siegel’s directorial debut, more than earns the title. He eats, sleeps, breathes and bleeds the New York Giants, loving the team down to the core of his being. All other concerns, such as interpersonal relationships and a job, fall to the wayside. His life is all Big Blue, all the time.

The scariest thing about Paul is just how realistic he seems; how utterly probable it is that there could be someone so single-mindedly obsessed with a sports team that it consumes their existence. Resisting any urge to condescend or judge, Mr. Siegel (who also wrote the screenplay) plops the character in a glum, depressed Staten Island milieu of strip malls, scuzzy bars and gray days and simply lets his story unfold. When a shocking accident — not to be revealed here — causes Paul to directly impact the team’s season, he’s faced with the utmost crisis of conscience.

Continue reading “Grid-Iron Obsession Clotheslines Hapless Fan” »

By MARTIN TSAI

Hollywood Records

Once upon a time, Amelie Gillette of The Onion A.V. Club dismissed her intern’s gentle suggestion to include Miley Cyrus in The Tolerability Index. Everything associated with the Disney Channel seemed way below the radar of The Onion’s target demographics, despite the fact that stargazers have spotted The Sopranos cast members James Gandolfini and Steve Schirripa escorting their children to a New York Times talk featuring Ms. Cyrus and her achy breaky one-hit wonder father, Billy Ray. But things probably have changed at The Onion after the 15-year-old superstar stirred up controversy by baring her backside for Vanity Fair’s noted fashion photographer Annie Leibowitz, and the fact that Ms. Cyrus’s standalone debut album “Breakout” just debuted at No. 1 on Billboard.

Continue reading “Maturity No Substitute for Clearasil” »