Run, Fatboy, Run

In 2004, British zombie flick/romantic comedy Shaun of the Dead propelled its star/screenwriter Simon Pegg into international cult hero status. He followed it up with Hot Fuzz, a hilarious (though less ballyhooed) send-up of action movies. With Run, Fatboy, Run, Pegg looks as if he’s got his sights set on becoming known as more of a mainstream leading comedic actor. If that were the goal, Run, Fatboy, Run falls well short, but it does provide its share of laughs.

    The film opens with Dennis on his wedding day. He is set to marry Libby (Thandie Newton), a beautiful woman who’s also pregnant with his child. The wedding seems like it’ll be a wonderful affair, except that Dennis is having cold feet. While the families party downstairs, Dennis has sequestered himself in an upstairs bedroom, sweating profusely and having serious second thoughts about his decision. Finally, the pressure becomes too much for him to take and he escapes through an open window, leaving his pregnant bride-to-be at the altar.



    Five years later, Dennis is an overweight retail security guard, while Libby is just as beautiful as ever. Their son Jake (Matthew Fenton) has grown into a fine boy and has a good relationship with both his parents, even though they split custody. However, Libby has finally moved on, and she’s in a serious relationship with Whit (Hank Azaria), who is a handsome, well-off businessman who runs marathons for kicks (and for charity). Dennis realizes he’s made a terrible mistake in letting Libby get away from him and now tries to fight an uphill battle to get her back. To prove to her that he’s changed, Dennis decides to enter a marathon that takes runners around the Thames River.

    Once again, Pegg is a double threat. However, this is a very different film than his previous two major screenplays Hot Fuzz and Shaun of the Dead. There are instances of outrageous comedy—such as a scene during Dennis’ marathon training in which he has an impossibly large blister at the bottom of his foot—but for the most part, the humor is much more subtle. Teamed with The State’s (it’s great how all those comedians are getting plenty of work nowadays) Michael Ian Black, Run, Fatboy, Run is pretty much just a run of the mill romantic comedy—but a very funny one. Without established genres to lampoon, Pegg and Black are forced to create — and find comedy in—realistic characters and situations, and they do a pretty good job. Dennis is the most fully realized, however, while the others are really only defined in their relationship to him. Pegg is great as painting Dennis as the lovable loser, a man who means well, but lacks the confidence to allow himself to win. This isn’t to say the other members of the cast turn in weak performances: Newton is competent as usual, Azaria is laughingly obnoxious as the heel and Dylan Moran pairs up well with Pegg as Dennis’ best friend Gordon. First time feature film director David Schwimmer (Ross from Friends) seems to take an actor-friendly approach and lets the cast do their thing without getting too tricky—probably a wise approach.

    As a run-of-the-mill romantic comedy, Run, Fatboy, Run is extremely predictable. It also has its share of montage sequences (I counted three), and there are sometimes-lengthy breaks between laughs. Luckily, when they do come, they’re worth the wait. Pegg’s next role will be that of Scotty in the highly anticipated Star Trek movie, due out this Christmas. Further down the road, Pegg will once again work as a writer and team up with Shaun of the Dead co-star Nick Frost for the film Paul.

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