Review of Run Fatboy Run (2007) by Christian H — 04 Apr 2011

There's a reason why they don't make movies revolve around marathons. Marathon's are long, tiring, and require lots of effort, unfortunately that's just what Run Fat Boy Run translates to.

Simon Pegg plays Dennis, a slightly overweight, live alone security guard at a women's lingerie store. Years ago Dennis left the pregnant love of his life Libby at the altar for fear of commitment, not the most original idea but a start nonetheless. Dennis sort of waffles around his life somehow hoping to that in the long run he'll win back Libby and his son. Libby is now dating Whit, a rich American man who is successful and extremely fit. Realizing that chance may be slipping away Simon attempts to prove to Libby that he can change by running the charity marathon that's Whit's entered. Thus ensues the hilarious comedy that is about to unfold as Dennis and his band of funny and goofy friends help him get in shape to Run! Yay!

Now in real life I bet a marathon is a extremely difficult task to train for but in a film this can all be solved by a montage. The fact that the main obstacle for Dennis is running is fundamentally why the film is so boring. Running, jogging, walking with a strut is not something we go to the movies to see, especially when the main antagonist is not a competing runner but merely finishing the race itself. In something like Rocky, Rocky is put up against a the towering, championed, best heavy weight fighter in the world. An opponent that is not only intimidating but also clear and photographable. A marathon is none of this and at the end of the film this creates a problem that is apparent when the film has to break some of its own rules by adding an imaginary obstacle. Now I don't want to ruing what this obstacle is just incase there are some of you bursting to see more Simon Pegg but this trick in the end of the film is something films do when they an idea was not properly fleshed out. They realize the climax of the film is not set up to be quite as exciting as it should be and they have to "add flash backs of the previous hardships" to reiterate and add to main obstacle, which is simply running more.

In terms of comedy it's fairly lukewarm, there's one gem I thought was funny that involves a blister but other than that I didn't find myself laughing much. The dialogue is not really all that sharp and actors are given a lot of leash to work with. In the small instances Simon Pegg is quite a good actor, I do think he has a lot of talent but he works much better when he's the normal one and everything around him is crazy, like in Shawn of the Dead or Hot Fuzz. The cinematography is mediocre but has a lot of color, especially orange. The color choice I find sort of strange. Why did this film need such vibrant and uneven colors?

Overall this is fairly forgettable and almost a bad film. Taking a jog would be a much better use of your time. On a completely random and uplifting note: OH my Godz India de Beaufort is so Hot!! she plays the Indian landlord's daughter.... smokin hot.....