Banal.

Rating: 3/10 (13 May 2010)

Run Fatboy Run, directed by David Schwimmer and starring Simon Pegg, Thandie Newton, Hank Azaria and Dylan Moran. The screenplay is written by Michael Ian Black & Pegg which is adapted from a story by Black himself. The problem a film such as this has is that it's such a well trodden formula. Yet film lovers continue entering such productions hoping for something different each time, but rarely is that hope met. Such is the case with this amiable but unadventurous piece. The cast do fine with the flimsy material, Pegg is always value for money in a comedy and so too is Azaria. While Newton is ideal as a pretty love interest. But where's the surprises? Where is a veer from the norm of a guy trying to win back his one true love? Plonking the formula into the middle of a marathon running framework just doesn't cut it as being any different.
It's a safe directing assignment for Schwimmer, one that in truth could have been directed by any number of fledgling directors. If it's an attempt to cash in on Pegg's popularity post Sean Of The Dead/Hot Fuzz, then it's not an ideal marker. It failed to make back its $10 million budget domestically but limped to a Worldwide profit of $23.5 million. So if nothing else the film served as a reference point for how to make some cash relatively easily. One or two good visual gags aside, it's a poor film and frankly all those involved deserve much better. 3/10