Rating:

The passions and obsessions of rabid East Coast sports fans, long a favorite subject of mine, get the big screen treatment in “Big Fan,” a creepy, pitch-dark movie that fails because it has very little understanding of its own subject matter.

Written and directed by Robert Siegel, the former editor of “The Onion” best known for writing the screenplay for last year’s “The Wrestler,” “Big Fan” can best be described as a sports talk radio-inflected remake of “Taxi Driver.” But it’s not nearly as good as that movie, or “The Wrestler” for that matter.

Comedian Patton Oswalt stars as Paul Aufiero, a 30-something Staten Island sad sack who lives with his mother, works in a toll booth, and is obsessed with the New York Giants, calling into a WFAN-like radio station each night with pages-long prepared statements.

Paul’s favorite player is Giants linebacker Quantrell Bishop, and he’s forced into a crisis of conscience when he gets into a physical confrontation with his hero, in a Manhattan nightclub incident that partially echoes the Plaxico Burress case, right down to the similar New York Post headlines. The film’s last act has Paul traveling to... South Philly, as the Giants and Eagles square off.

“Big Fan” is deeply unsettling, and not in a good way. It has equal contempt for pretty much all of its characters, starting with Paul, who could be described as a loser at best and a sociopath at worst.

And if you think Paul is bad, you should see his family — probably the most offensive white trash stereotype in a contemporary film since Hilary Swank’s relatives in “Million Dollar Baby.” It’s hard to guess which is the more appalling caricature — his shrieking mother, his ambulance-chasing brother-in-law or his sister, with a bad tan and cartoonish breast implants.

The NFL agreed to grant the licensing of its team names and logos to the film, something it doesn’t always do, and I’m still wondering why they did. The film doesn’t depict the image-conscious league, or especially its fans, in an positive light.

But that’s nothing compared to the weakness with which the film approaches sports talk radio, which rings false from start to finish.

There’s the use of Scott Ferrall, the world’s most annoying sports radio personality, as well as the conceit that Paul, who never says anything interesting, creative or funny on the air, would be considered a valuable regular caller. Then, in the film’s first five minutes, a fan refers to the Eagles as “Gang Green,” a nickname that refers, especially in New York, only to the Jets. No one has called the Eagles that since Reggie White played for them.

But even worse, the film fails to realize that Eagles and Giants fans who call sports radio shows, especially during losing streaks, don’t do so to boost their teams, but rather to rip them to shreds. During the portion of the film when the Giants have lost several games in a row, why isn’t every caller screaming about how much they suck?

Various other plots and subplots are pretty weak, too, especially a sequence in which Paul tries to dodge a police detective (Matt Servitto, Agent Harris from “The Sopranos”). Why not just say “I don’t want to press charges?” The film also appears to be under the impression that lawyers are allowed to file lawsuits without the plaintiff’s permission.

I could imagine a very good movie being made about rabid, angry football fans in New York and Philadelphia, even playing out through the medium of sports radio. But “Big Fan” just plain doesn’t work, mostly because it doesn’t understand the world it inhabits.

“Big Fan”

Directed by Robert Siegel Starring Patton Oswalt, Kevin Corrigan, Matt Servitto and Michael Rapaport My rating: 1 star (out of 5) Rated R