I would settle for something shaped like a fish....

Rating: 7/10 (15 July 2016)

This film has had a hard time with critics and audiences alike, but then it does set itself up to fail.
When seen back in 2007, it was more of a veritable feast of what was popular at that time. It had your gross out humour moment (the highly unfunny blister sequence), the soundtrack should have been called Now That's What I Call The Greatest Hits Of 2007, there was your obligatory cameo from a British comedian, who just happens to be playing the same character they did in Little Britain.
And of course, it was released a few months after the excellent Hot Fuzz.
So it was never going to reach people's expectations.
Dennis left his pregnant fiancée five years ago. Since then, Dennis has tried to persuade the woman he loves to accept him back into his life, but everyday he fails.
When he discovers that Libby has found a partner in the form of Whit, frustration grows, and Dennis vows, that for once in his life, he will finish something.
This something ends up being a marathon.
With his friends Gordon and Mr. Ghoshdashtidar by his side, Dennis begins training for the marathon he must finish.....
As always, Pegg is excellent in his role as hapless Dennis. He plays the Everyman in his roles, and never adds any heirs or graces to his characters when they are not needed. Look at the majority of his roles, they are all very similar, and they always seem to work.
But the major problem with the film is that the actual story has been done a hundred times before, and from the minute Peggs and Newtons characters interact in the present day, you know that all will be good come the end of the film.
And these two are at the core of the films narrative, and despite the chemistry they have, it just doesn't bring the film to life like secondary, or even tertiary characters.
When Moran is on screen with Pegg, this is when the film comes alive. They have a natural banter together, and it's good comedy.
As aria is your atypical pantomime villain, appears great to start with, but if your a bit of a film buff, you know he will do so etching dastardly and swear at the child.
Other famous faces from British TV pop up now and again, but they are wasted in this, hardly having anything to do.
But it's watchable because of Pegg, and it's one gross out moment doesn't taint the rest of the film.