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Too
few laughs... Too little heart...
You’ll probably recognize Simon Pegg from
the extremely popular zombie flick, “Shaun
of the Dead” and, by comparison, his
disappointing cop movie spoof, “Hot Fuzz”.
Here, he teams up with director David
Schwimmer (of “Friends” fame) in a
blisteringly average comedy about a loser
guy named Dennis, desperate to win back the
girl of his dreams (Thandie Newton), who he
once left at the alter while she was
pregnant with his child.
The plot pits him against her new boyfriend,
a successful American business man who runs
marathons for charity. So naturally, Dennis
has to run the marathon to prove his
superiority and to show the girl that he has
changed to become a better man.
“Run Fatboy Run” cannot decide what it
really wants to be. It tries to balance
slapstick comedy and heartfelt sincerity – a
blend that is very difficult to achieve. As
is the case here, that particular blend
usually results in too few laughs and too
little heart.
It also makes a pretty fatal mistake in that
it desperately wants us to root for Dennis
to win the girl back… which is strange when
you consider that he is a deadbeat dad,
completely unreliable and unsuccessful at
everything he does, who left her at the
altar while pregnant. His competition,
played by Hank Azaria, is a nice,
successful, good looking guy who doesn’t
have any apparent flaws.
It doesn’t make any sense… But hey… this is
the movies. We always have to root for the
underdog, right? Well, I found that hard to
get past. In my opinion, Dennis doesn’t
deserve the girl.
The performances are all solid. Pegg, Newton
and Azaria do the best that can be expected
in a film like this. The supporting cast
members do a lot of scene stealing and
provide some amusing moments.
Listen, “Run Fatboy Run” isn’t a bad movie…
merely a forgettable one. Sure, it delivers
a handful of mild chuckles and a belly laugh
or two…. But it isn’t enough to merit a
recommendation. The script has too many flat
patches and the tone can’t ever figure out
what it wants to be. It's best to save your
money and wait until it hits cable TV in a
year or so.
If you want to see a far better
collaboration between Schwimmer and Pegg,
check out a hidden gem from 2007 called,
“Big Nothing” – a hilarious crime caper that
hits all the right notes.
©
Written by TC Candler |
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Click
Play for Trailer / Review
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Director
David
Schwimmer
Cast
Simon
Pegg
Thandie Newton
Hank Azaria
Running Time
100m
Rated
PG
Official
Website
http://www.runfatboyrunmovie.com/ |
