If you loved Hot Fuzz...

Rating: 5/10 (18 January 2009)

...then you will be sorely disappointed by this, nice but virtually completely different comedy.
Simon Pegg shows that he can be the new Robert Carlyle (remember him from The Full Monty). He is funny, sad and touching but unlike that other brilliant film there doesn't seem to be enough of a comedic hook to sustain interest. The fat man running a marathon seems like a good premise but the director, David Schwimmer's love for drama rather than comedy gets in the way of making this truly memorable.
On the plus side, you get a truly great performance from both Simon Pegg and his antagonist, Hank Azaria. It's truly amazing how Azaria can play both nice and really sleazy with equal skill. His turn comes quite unexpected and it's one of the more pleasing aspects of this otherwise ordinary movie.
Schwimmer does seem to have a British sensibility and the scenes between the Indian landlord and Pegg are the best moments because they feel so true. You do believe that they could strike up a friendship unlike an American movie where most interracial friendships are severely restricted.
Oh, yeah. I almost forgot Thandie Newton. She deserves the most credit since she plays a rather thankless role. The unwed mother, jilted by the Pegg character at the altar (can you feel the cliché machine grinding). Schwimmer wisely makes her a person and not a vicious shrew out for revenge.
The end is a bit too unbelievable and you sort of wish it would have ended without showing the actual race. It seems to drag on and on and the wall is really too much.