Broadly funny, just lacks the wit to take it to the next level

Rating: 6/10 (2 April 2008)

It's strange to see Simon Pegg go from subverting clichés to embracing a film so riddled with them and even more surprisingly, with his tongue nowhere to be seen near his cheek. Somewhere along the way, Pegg and his fellow scribe, one of the funniest people in the world (in my very humble opinion), Michael Ian Black forgot that they started writing a parody of rom-com/underdog/sports films and instead just went through the motions of making yet another trite and thoroughly conventional feel-good sapfest. And to be fair to Black, his script was rewritten by Pegg to take place in London instead of its original Los Angeles setting and anglicised to follow suit. Take a closer look and you might see director David Schwimmer's name nestled between Pegg and his co-star Thandie Newton.
"Run Fatboy Run" begins as if it was the day after a Happily Ever After in an unlikely romantic comedy. Deadbeat Dennis (Pegg) is moments away from getting married to Lovely Libby (Newton), a smart and ambitious beauty way above his station who he's gotten pregnant. What does a spineless buffoon do other than run? Literally, away from her, the presiding minister, friends and family. Six years later, the shame from that moment of cowardice forms the very fundamentals of Dennis's life: unhealthy, insecure, broke, undependable and without prospects. The one bright spark left over is a cordial relationship with Libby and a relatively affectionate one with their young son, Jake (Matthew Fenton). Dennis's life on the precipice is shaken when Libby introduces her seemingly perfect new American boyfriend Whit (Hank Azaria) who's successful, financially secure, considerate and ready for a long-term relationship. Faced with a future without Libby and Jake, Dennis attempts to prove to those around him that he can follow through with his promises by running the same marathon as Whit.
Pegg gives a strong showing here and shows that he's not only naturally funny and self-effacing but a decent actor. Schwimmer does well to frame his shots at Pegg by showing his face and expressions as he reacts to things around him that he's shown to be powerless to control. We start to believe him when he finally understands that Libby is the love of his life, as opposed to being someone he hopes to selfishly possess, and in these very small ways, we get a main character that's real enough to root for. Pegg also knows the score when he's in his element. He's fearless when it comes to the paunchy physicality of the role  the schoolyard chases, the training montages as he heaves and hos  but is also verbally adroit enough to deliver some genuine zingers.
Pegg doesn't get to have the only laugh here. The film populates a sleazy best friend, Gordon (Dylan Moran) and an ingratiating Indian landlord, Mr. Ghoshdashidar (Harish Patel) around Dennis's objective of completing the marathon. Moran is a scene-steal by all regards. He delivers the best lines and is filled with the unpredictable, wacky comic energy that's conspicuously left restrained in the rest of the film. While a riot, Patel always stays one joke shy from being an offensively stereotype and slots in well the rest of the cast.
Perhaps a victim of the rewrite, the film finds its way close to pandering double takes and uneven characterisations, most conspicuously in the handling of Whit who's at once faultless and perilously villainous at others. The tired scent of mediocrity rears the closer the film inches towards its hokey pay-off and you've suddenly got a film that's so much lesser than the sum of its parts.