Big Fan stars my favorite comedian Patton Oswalt, in the directorial debut of Rob Siegel, who wrote my favorite movie of last year The Wrestler.  I’ve already rubbed my nerd sweat and anticipation boner all over this flick, so I’ll try not to repeat myself, but now it has a trailer.  I hope this doesn’t give too much away, but as you can see, the Taxi-Driver-meets-football-fanaticism plot involves Patton’s character getting beat up by his favorite player and suddenly having the power to decide his fate.

It also has a cameo from Michael Rapaport, and as you can hear at the 38-second mark, Sirius radio sports guy Scott Ferrall playing himself.  I don’t know how people can listen to that guy without getting nauseous. Every time I hear him I wonder who decided to give a guy who sounds like an 85-year-old hooker with a trach tube a talk radio gig.  It’d be like putting a progeria baby with a lazy eye on TV.  Dang, I just inadvertently described Stu Scott and John Clayton, didn’t I.  I guess what I’m saying is that ugly people know a lot about sports.

[opens Aug 24th]

Big Fan premiered at Sundance, and at a recent screening, first-time director Rob Siegel revealed that it will be getting a theatrical release in August.  Why do I care?  Because Rob Siegel wrote my favorite movie of last year, The Wrestler, and the star of Big Fan is none other than Patton Oswalt, the chubby lesbionic emperor of my comedy-nerd heart.

Siegel said the film is getting prepped for a release in August, a small distributor has picked up the film and the official announcement will come out this week during the Tribeca Film Festival. Presumably, this means Overture, Magnolia, IFC or indie distribs of this ilk is the buyer.

Straight out of the ’70s loner milieu [Editor’s Note: that’s a fancy way of saying ‘it’s like Taxi Driver’], “Big Fan” is an engaging, if rough-around-the-edges portrait of a lonely, socially inept mid-30-something (Patton Oswalt) still living at home and obsessed with the New York Giants. His arrested development finds him over-eagerly accosting his favorite player, quarterback Quantrell Bishop (Jonathan Hamm), who tests the Staten Island fan’s undying resolve for the team by delivering a severe beatdown and landing him in the hospital. The film also features Kevin Corrigan and Michael Rapaport in a small cameo role. [ThePlaylist]

I had to look this up, but apparently Jonathan Hamm isn’t the same person as Jon Hamm of Mad Men – who, although a fine actor, I doubt could carry off the role of a guy named “Quantrell.”  You know you’re a good-looking man when all your early acting roles are characters like “Handsome Guy #5″ and “Professor Ernst von Chisel Face”.