Run Fatboy Run
Rated: PG-13
Runtime: 1 hour, 40 minutes
Directed by: David Schwimmer
Starring:
Simon Pegg - Dennis
Thandie Newton - Libby
Hank Azaria - Whit
Dylan Moran - Gordon
Harish Patel - Mr. Ghoshdashtidar
Matthew Fenton - Jake
If you'e not a fan of actor/writer Simon Pegg, than there's nothing for you in Run Fatboy Run. But if you are a fan of Pegg, than you'll leave the film even more enamored of his comic timing and subtle slacker charm.
Dennis Doyle (Pegg) made the ultimate dick move five years ago when he left his pregnant fiancée Libby (Thandie Newton) at the altar. Now he's still a loser but at least he's trying to be a good father and hold on to the hope that one day Libby will take him back. But with the entrance of charming douchebag Whit (Hank Azaria), Dennis now has to prove that he'll do whatever it takes to show Libby that he's not the same loser that ran out on her. If anything, he's a foolish loser who will have to overcome his physical unfitness to complete a 26.2-mile marathon, thus demonstrating his love and devotion to her and to bettering himself.
Fatboy is the softest of comedies. There's hardly anything in it that you couldn't find on an average, laugh-tracked prime-time comedy. But Pegg's charm and comedic ability makes this a date movie worth seeing rather than a completely forgettable romcom sans the zoms from the last time he played a slacker trying to man up in Shaun of the Dead. Thankfully, this film comes four years after Shaun and those familiar with Pegg's other films know he can play other characters but that doesn't mean he's not damn good at this one. It's a character who's self-aware enough to know his own short-comings but sympathetic enough that we'll root for him rather than just pity him. In Fatboy, hardly any of that is on the page; it's all Pegg and it's just a joy to watch such a truly talented comic actor elevate the material he's given.
Run Fatboy Run is an unremarkable film staring a remarkable actor and while the film is never offensively incompetent or insultingly benign, it would be completely worthless without Pegg and fans of the actor will definitely not be disappointed.
Words by
Matt Goldberg
3.26.08