Review: Run, Fatboy, Run

Dennis (Simon Pegg of Shaun of The Dead and Hot Fuzz fame) is just your average guy, slightly overweight and romantically inept. He’s also a bit of a bastard, having left his pregnant fiancée Libby (Thandie Newton) at the altar five years ago. Poor form Dennis. It is only when she becomes involved with a new man, the slick and charming Whit (Hank Azaria), that Dennis realizes just how big a mistake he made. To prove he has changed his slacker ways, Dennis vows to match Whit’s effort of running the London marathon to show his new found sense of personal commitment. Ah metaphors, the lifeblood of the industry.

While Simon Pegg’s previous actor/writer vehicles gleefully warped and mutated the genres he worked with, Run Fatboy Run is content to align itself with convention through a storyline that plays it safe and errs on the side of the predictable. But really, what else can you expect from a romantic comedy directed by David Schwimmer? Yeah I know, I’m surprised he still gets work, too. But to his credit, he’s helmed a film that sells itself on the promise of safe laughs and feel good moments and then goes on to deliver them.

The majority of the credit for this lies in the hands of the cast. Pegg plays the plucky underdog effectively, placing the audience firmly behind him and delivering his one-liners with the timing of the seasoned pro he now is. Azaria as his nemesis also plays his role with aplomb, creating a character so smug and cocky you can’t wait to see him brought down a few notches. Completing the love triangle is Thandie Newton, sweet without ever crossing over into sickly territory. Orbiting this central conflict are a slew of bit parts inhabited by familiar faces from British T.V. comedy, all of whom bring something to the table.

However, the cast can only wring so much humour out of the pedestrian events and this movie will start to leave you as soon as you step out of the cinema. It’s an enjoyable enough way to kill a lazy couple of hours if your expectations aren’t too high, but nothing more.