Run Fatboy Run

In this punctuationally challenged movie, Simon Pegg stars as Dennis – a pitiful, loser of a man who left his pregnant fiancée, Libby (Thandie Newton), at the altar. Five years later, he hasn’t made much of his life, gained a few extra pounds, and still wants Libby back. However, she has found another man.

Libby’s new boyfriend, Whit (Hank Azaria), is everything Dennis is not. Whit is successful, cultured and runs marathons for charity. In an attempt to prove he can finally set a goal and stick to it, and to further convince Libby he is a changed man, Dennis pledges to run the same London marathon Whit will be participating in.

Will Dennis be able to finish the marathon?

Will he get Libby back?

Run Fatboy Run is the rare kind of movie that can be absolutely hilarious in one moment, and a little sappy in the next without driving you mad. Director David Schwimmer (yes, THAT David Schwimmer), with some help from screenwriters Michael Ian Black and Pegg himself, creates a movie that sometimes touches on the corny and trite, but never becomes either of those because you care about the characters, and we quickly return to the comedy, which is key to keeping Run Fatboy Run on track and moving forward the way a comedy should. Even what could typically become overdone gross out comedy is softened by Schwimmer, so it is funny instead of off-putting.

Pegg is almost brilliant with his slapstick comedy and dedication to goofiness. Even with the most ridiculous fake beer gut you have ever seen, he makes us laugh at Dennis as he runs out of breath while chasing a criminal, or engages in one of the silliest fight scenes of the year. Yet, he also finds something admirable in Dennis, makes us feel like he is a decent guy, and almost brings a tear to your eye as his heart breaks in one of Run Fatboy Run’s most dramatic moments. With this movie, Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, Pegg has proven to be one of the best comedians in film today.

Run Fatboy Run also has a wonderful supporting cast which helps add to the comedy and sweetness. Harish Patel and Dylan Moran get plenty of opportunities to make us laugh, but also come through in the bonding moments as they form Dennis’s support base in the worst of times. Meanwhile, Azaria subtly makes Whit into more of a twit in each and every scene, slowly and more realistically than just making him a jerk from the first moment we see the character on screen.

Best of all, Schwimmer and company do a fabulous job taking the most clichéd ending you can imagine and turning it on its head to be fresh and entertaining.

Run Fatboy Run is rated PG-13 for some rude and sexual humor, nudity, language and smoking.