While [Pegg] gets some mileage out of this sketchy material, he's undermined by story and character problems, as well as the limp, uninspired direction of actor-turned-filmmaker David Schwimmer.
Run, Fat Boy, Run (2008)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:143
Fresh:69
Rotten:74
Average Rating:5.5/10
Consensus: Run, Fat Boy, Run features sporadic laughs, but is ultimately too formulaic and predictable.
Rated: PG-13 [See Full Rating] for some rude and sexual humor, nudity, language and smoking.
Runtime: 1 hr 40 mins
Genre: Comedies
Theatrical Release:Mar 28, 2008 Wide
Box Office: $5,926,110
Synopsis: DENNIS (Simon Pegg) is an ordinary guy. He's a little overweight and he smokes, but he's nice, charming and unassuming. However, five years ago, Dennis did something that wasn't so nice. On his... DENNIS (Simon Pegg) is an ordinary guy. He's a little overweight and he smokes, but he's nice, charming and unassuming. However, five years ago, Dennis did something that wasn't so nice. On his wedding day to his pregnant fiancé LIBBY (Thandie Newton), Dennis did a runner. He just couldn't go through with it. He didn't think he was good enough for Libby, so instead of ruining her life, he ruined her big day. Now, five years later, Dennis realizes he made a big mistake. He's still in love with Libby. He still sees her all the time because of JAKE (Matthew Fenton), their five-year-old son, but all romantic ties have been severed. Libby's now seeing WHIT (Hank Azaria), a charming professional from the City, and Dennis takes an immediate dislike to him. Whit is casual, easy-going, successful and good with Jake; much to Dennis's annoyance. How can Dennis compete with him? In direct contrast to Whit's sleek lifestyle in the City, Dennis is a mere security guard for a ladies retail store. He doesn't earn much money and he's well behind on his rent, something which his landlord, MR GHOSHDASHTIDAR (Harish Patel), doesn't take lightly. Mr G's daughter MAYA (India de Beaufort) is particularly intent on evicting Dennis and replacing him with a much more reliable tenant. Compared to Whit's effortless abilities, everything Dennis attempts seems to end in disaster. Even when he wants to take Jake to see "Lord of the Rings: The Musical," he finds himself in trouble with the police for trying to buy from a ticket tout. There is no help forthcoming from Dennis' feckless best friend GORDON (Dylan Moran), whose life is just as much of a mismatch. Gordon's main sources of interest are the poker games held at the back of a piano store with a bunch of misfits: GROVER, CLAUDINE and MICKEY, overseen by the imperious VINCENT (Simon Day). Dennis feels demoralized and overwhelmed by Whit's long list of achievements. In a last-ditch effort to prove to Libby that he's changed his ways, Dennis impulsively announces at her birthday party that he will run in the same London Marathon that Whit has been training for. But does Dennis have the stuff to trade his cold feet for running shoes? RUN, FAT BOY, RUN is a romantic comedy that affirms that true love isn't a sprint, it's a marathon. --© Picturehouse [More]
Starring: Simon Pegg, Thandie Newton, Dylan Moran, Hank Azaria
Starring: Simon Pegg, Thandie Newton, Dylan Moran, Hank Azaria, Ameet Chana, Harish Patel, David Walliams, Stephen Merchant
Director: David Schwimmer
Director: David Schwimmer
Screenwriter: Michael Ian Black, Simon Pegg
Story: Michael Ian Black
Producer: Robert Jones, Sarah Curtis
Composer: Alex Wurman
Studio: Lions Gate Films
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Reviews for Run, Fat Boy, Run
It looks like British writers Simon Pegg and Michael Ian Black have been studying the romantic comedies of Adam Sandler.
... lacks the invention of [Simon] Pegg's comedies with Edgar Wright, which buzz and crackle with ideas and energy. This one simply plods through...
Run Fatboy Run isn't particularly hilarious or moving, but it's got just enough humor and pathos to render its myriad flaws almost forgivable. Almost.
Could a better combination of collaborators have produced something greater? Definitely. But this cheerful mix of juvenility and grown-up-relationship angst goes down smoothly enough to be worth watching.
Run Fat Boy Run is hard to love, thanks to the tedious romantic-comedy cliches to which it subjects its characters -- and us.
The project represents an uncertain Britification of a script by Chicago native Michael Ian Black, and the result finds itself stranded somewhere out in the Atlantic, mid-crossing.
So pathetically average that you can barely muster the energy to have an opinion about it.
Snarkiness and sentiment are in constant battle for supremacy throughout Run Fat Boy Run with no chance of a comfortable draw.
[Director] Schwimmer shows some skill by keeping the mood light and making no notable missteps, but he still comes away looking like someone trying, and failing, to play Judd Apatow, the reigning champion of realistic, emotional comedy.
[Director] David Schwimmer takes the sow's ear of a script given him by [Simon] Pegg and Michael Ian Black and deep-fries it into a burnt pork rind of a movie.
It’s hard to dislike Simon Pegg, but in Run Fat Boy Run, he exhausts our sympathy in the prologue.
There are so many scenes of him running, it's surprising Pegg didn't just take off and never come back to the set after he saw how things were going.
Anyone hoping for the lean meat of the fast, furious, and riotously funny Shaun of the Dead or even the popcorn fancy of the lesser Hot Fuzz will do best to look elsewhere.
It may be the kind of film that will make you smile more than laugh, but you'll smile a lot. And although it practically forces you to root for its hero, you won't mind a bit because the hero is played by Simon Pegg.
Depends on the charm of its leading man. But that proves a commodity which, in Pegg's case, proves to be not only in short supply but positively out of stock.
Pegg's Dennis is lazy, insensitive and unhygienic. Yet his most defining quality is blandness. I could barely rouse myself to dislike him.
Pegg is brilliant, pratfalling his way through heartbreak and indignity
This is yet another parody that falls victim to the desire to become what it's intending to satirize.
Latest News for Run, Fat Boy, Run
September 24, 2008:
The film, like its flabby aspiring marathon runner protagonist, feels shapeless and exhausted from the sheer effort of trying to please audiences. ![]()
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August 15, 2008:
CinWorld: The film, like its flabby aspiring marathon runner protagonist, feels shapeless and exhausted from the sheer effort of trying to please audiences. ![]()
More...
March 30, 2008:
New Feature Alert! The RT Review Revue, A Weekly Video Round-up
Live from the RT offices...it's the RT Review Revue! Check out the latest word on this week's new releases in the first installment of our new editorial video column. More...
March 27, 2008:
Box Office Guru Preview: Four New Players Join The Game
Four new releases take a gamble debuting in theaters across North America hoping to hit the jackpot with audiences. The blackjack drama 21 and the spoof comedy Superhero Movie... More...
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 77% 77% | The Hangover |
| 88% 88% | Inglourious Basterds |
| 66% 66% | Public Enemies |
| 24% 24% | G-Force |
| 44% 44% | Night at the Museum: B… |
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 90% 90% | District 9 |
| 86% 86% | 500 Days of Summer |
| 63% 63% | Extract |
| 06% 06% | All About Steve |
| 78% 78% | It Might Get Loud |
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