A comedy co-written and starring Simon Pegg (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz) and co-starring Dylan Moran (television’s Black Books) and Hank Azaria (various voices on The Simpsons) really should be a lot funnier than the disappointing Run Fat Boy Run. Pegg plays Dennis, an underachieving loser who ran off on his pregnant fiancée (Thandie Newton from The Pursuit of Happyness and Crash) on their wedding day. 5 years later he decides she is the love of his life and tries to win her back from her new fiancée (Azaria) by running the London marathon to prove his ability to commit to something.
Despite the dull premise Pegg and Moran, as Dennis’s best friend, are enjoyable enough and mildly amusing but Newton and Azaria get absolutely nothing to do. The main fault with Run Fat Boy Run is the limp and inexperienced direction by David Schwimmer. During his run as Ross on Friends Schwimmer moved behind the camera to occasionally direct but his efforts on Run Fat Boy Run suggests he still has a lot to learn about comic timing and working with actors to bring a script to life.
Originally appeared in The Big Issue, No. 299, 2008
CINEMA AUTOPSY 