Allow me to generalize; Usually, sports movies fall into one of three categories: The inspirational, campy and horribly-predictable flicks (in the vein of The Rookie, Hoosiers); The "real life," gritty portrayals (Any Given Sunday, The Program); Or the over-the-top spoof or slapstick-comedy-type fare (Major League, The Replacements).

But Big Fan, the directorial debut from Robert Siegel (who penned 2008's The Wrestler), doesn't quite fit into any sport movie stereotype.

Big Fan stars Patton Oswalt (stand-up comedian, Reno 911!) as Paul, an overzealous New York Giants fan who lives with his mother and spends his free time calling the local sports radio show, playing booster for the G-Men and battling an equally-enthusiastic Eagles fan.

Starting to sound like one of those aforementioned slapstick-comedy-type sports flicks? That's when the motif turns darker; Paul and his friend Sal (played by Kevin Corrigan) run into the Giants' star linebacker at a strip club (as a patron, not performer). From the film's website:

     Paul cautiously decides to approach him, stepping into the rarefied air of football stardom
     -- and things do not go as planned. The fallout of this chance encounter brings Paul's
     world crashing down around him as his family, the team, the media and the authorities
     engage in a tug of war over Paul, testing his allegiances and calling into question
     everything he believes in.

Not so slapsticky anymore, huh? Initial buzz for the film is good coming off of a strong showing at the Sundance Film Festival, though it's only in a handful of theaters at present. Here's the list.

Check out the trailer below. I'll let you decide for yourself, but Big Fan has already made its way on to my Netflix queue.