Film Review: Run, Fat Boy, Run

Liverpool Daily Post

Run Fat Boy Run (Cert. 12A, )
Stars: Simon Pegg, Thandie Newton, Hank Azaria
Directed by David Schwimmer

THE feature film directorial debut of Friends’ David Schwimmer is a spry romantic comedy, which proves nice guys can finish last and still get the girl.

Shaun of the Dead star Simon Pegg delivers another endearing performance as Dennis, a slacker in desperate need of direction in his life. Ever since he left his pregnant fiancée Libby (Thandie Newton) standing at the altar, he has cultivated the reputation of a man who never finishes anything, preferring to run away from responsibility.

He still sees Libby, but only to ensure he has contact with their son. Any hopes Dennis harbours of wooing Libby back are dashed when he meets her new man Whit (Hank Azaria), who runs marathons for charity.

Determined to win back Libby, Dennis resolves to run alongside Whit in the Nike River Race: a marathon around the streets of London.

Run Fat Boy Run maintains a steady pace and a couple of sequences merit belly laughs. Pegg plays up his natural likeability and demonstrates his more sensitive side, albeit fleetingly, when his hapless hero wishes Libby well with her new romance and confesses that he ran away because, "I thought spoiling your day was better than ruining your life."

Newton, meanwhile, is sweet and sexy, and Azaria doesn’t overplay his love rival until the haphazard finale.