Once the race starts, things get exciting

Rating: 7/10 (24 July 2018)

For his pedigree as a prestigious theatrical director, it's somewaht odd that David Schwimmer's directorial debut is an innocent popcorn comedy. Then again he's best known for a sitcom role, but it would have been nice to see Schwimmer try to escape that reputation.
Nonetheless, "Run Fatboy Run" is a perfectly watchable popcorn comedy about an aimless man in arrested development (Simon Pegg) who runs a marathon as a hail mary pass to win back his ersatz ex-wife/baby mama (Thandie Newton). The backstory (mercifully expositioned out of the way in the film's first three minutes) is that the protagonist left Newton's character at the altar on their wedding night out of fear. This sets up a rather obvious but serviceable character arc: The man's a loser because he's a commitment-phobe so finishing the race will represent his ability to commit.
The film is set in London with a certain British whimsy in terms of many of the side characters including Harish Patel as a quirky yet sweet downstairs neighbor, Dylan Moran as the opportunistic best friend, and Nevan Finegan as a sexy no-nonsense landlady.
The film can be firmly divided into two halves: Before Simon Pegg's character runs a marathon, and the marathon itself.
In the first act, it's pretty typical with obvious foreshadowing and comedy that seems a little overly reliant on grotesque physical in a manner reminiscent of the "Three Stooges" (or what I'd imagine the Three Stooges to be): In one scene, Pegg's character gets a nail in his toe in an effort to pop a blister; in another, he and Moran's character get into a fight that's played for humor based on the pain that the two are in. If you've seen the Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern be repeatedly bludgeoned in "Home Alone" you'll get the picture.
What really elevates the film is when he starts running the marathon and the subplots merge into more of a kinetic frenzy. The humor of bodily pain starts to segue into the tropes of a feel-good movie.
This is one of the few wide-release running films and there's a lot of relatable stuff here in how annoying other runners can be, how some of the good running tips don't make sense until you're on the track, how will power will only take you so far without practice, and how running a long-distance race is often about the light at the end of the tunnel.