Wednesday, April 2, 2008

RUN FAT BOY RUN

“RUN FAT BOY RUN” (Simon Pegg, Thandie Newton & Hank Azaria)

If you enjoyed “Hot Fuzz” & “Shaun Of The Dead”, don’t be fooled by the appearance of Simon Pegg in “Run Fat Boy Run” – this is NOT a Simon Pegg film – it’s directed by David Schwimmer (of “Friends”) & even though Simon apparently stepped in & re-wrote parts of the script, it is a ‘romantic comedy’ in every sense – a ‘watered down’ version of a typical Simon Pegg film.
The opening scene is poorly done – Dennis (Pegg) is shown leaving his pregnant girlfriend Libby (Thandie Newton) at the alter... doesn’t exactly make him the kind of guy you want to win the girl back, does it?
The film then jumps forward 5 or 6 years where Dennis is allowed by Libby to be a part0time father to their son. When Dennis meets Libby’s smug American boyfriend, Whit (Hank Azaria - whose entire film career has been playing smugly obnoxious boyfriends) he suddenly decides he made a mistake by ditching Libby & to show her he’s changed he’s going to run in the upcoming marathon for charity event coming up.
Thanks to Whit being extremely unlikable, you find yourself rooting for the dopey Dennis & when he utters the clichéd line, “I decided it was better to ruin your day than to ruin your life” as an excuse for running out on their wedding day, you almost buy into it because you just don’t want her to end up with Whit, the ugly American.
It is an enjoyable enough ‘romantic comedy’ & I offer Pegg as the chief reason for that. & yes, I dare you not to find yourself cheering on the ‘out of shape’ marathon man as he strives to win back the woman he wronged.

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