Average, but at least Hugh Grant's not in it....

Rating: 6/10 (14 October 2007)

I get the feeling that Simon Pegg, after building up such a huge following from Spaced, and Shaun of the Dead/Hot Fuzz, seems to be trying to sell out almost as quickly. Like Ricky Gervais & Hugh Grant, he just keeps appearing everywhere.
First two strikes for me were for Big Nothing, a meandering mess of a film with gormless David Schwimmer reprising his 'Oh gee whizz' countenance through a film with too many ridiculous twists. Strike two was for Free Jimmy, an computer animated cartoon featuring a junkie elephant, and utter rubbish...so, strike three for 'Run Fat Boy, Run'? ...No...not really. I kind of liked the film. Simon Pegg seems to be doing the best he can with the material he's presented, (and I guess that goes also for Big Nothing, and Free Jimmy too). OK, the plot came right out of the Brit-com by numbers formula script writing (One downtrodden but lovable guy, one quirky beautiful love interest, one oddball best friend, one slimy rich cad, one cute kid, and one disgraceful old lady with a foul mouth, a lot of the London skyline, and a fair bit of shmaltz) - Well, Run Fat Boy, Run contains all of those to varying degrees, so anyone who loved 'Notting Hill', 'Bridget Jones' or 'Four Weddings' will not be displeased.
As for the rest of the cast, I was a bit surprised to find Dylan Moran's character so badly underused. Dylan, a rare gem of a stand-up comedian, does nothing more than deliver his lines in the film, and, as an embarrassing (and pretty weak) running gag, has his bare bottom shown. - Using Dylan Moran for a cheap sight-gag like that is like hiring a cordon bleu chef to microwave a pizza. It's a huge waste! The rest of the supporting cast are credible. Frank Azaria's villain, to be honest, was still, too nice. Likable, even! However, the pacing of the film was all wrong, and the 'nastiness' factor of Azaria's character was ramped up too little too late. The Indian landlord was another staple of the 'britcom by numbers' formula, but he did add a fair degree of humour to the proceedings, instead of just being stuck in there for the hell of it....
...and OK, maybe I've painted a bad picture of this movie. It's not bad, there are moments of genuine laughter to be had, amid the shmaltz, pratfalls & lame running gags, but don't expect to leave the cinema clutching your ribs, or with a profound sense of witnessing something amazing. Run, Fat Boy Run won't hasten Pegg's transformation into a 2-dimensional Ricky Gervais wannabe, but it does him no favours. However, it does prove one thing. David Schwimmer's post-Friends humour & star appeal is dwindling...!