STUDIO: New Line
RELEASE DATE: September 23, 2008
STARRING: Simon Pegg, Thandie Newton, Dylan Moran, and Hank Azaria
WRITTEN BY: Simon Pegg & Michael Ian Black
DIRECTED BY: David Schwimmer
FEATURES: Deleted Scenes
Commentary by Simon Pegg, Thandie Newton, Gill Pegg (Simon's Mom), and Director David Schwimmer
"Thandie's Goof" Outtakes
Theatrical Trailers

Run Fatboy Run is an interesting story in that it's a film directed by a very famous American that made significantly more overseas than it did in his own country (over 80% of its total gross comes from non-US markets). Is it possible that we like our Brits to be serious? We'll take Daniel Day-Lewis and Anthony Hopkins in dramas but we prefer Ben Stiller and Seth Rogen in comedy? That's the only reason that I can think of that Simon Pegg is not yet a household name in most American abodes. The guy is a comedic genius. Check out Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, and Spaced and tell me I'm wrong. Perhaps the problem was that Run Fatboy Run was a near-miss and not among Pegg's best films but it feels like Brit-led comedies have a strike against them from day one. Maybe audiences will be more forgiving on the home market, where comedy often does better than it does in theaters and where millions saw Pegg's previous work.

Pegg stars in Run Fatboy Run as another lovable loser from the mold recently made so damn popular by Seth Rogen, Steve Carell, and Ben Stiller. Isn't it fascinating that romantic leads have turned to schlubs? Maybe that's why so many women went to see the horrible What Happens in Vegas. It was a romantic comedy with a traditionally attractive male lead. Anyway, Pegg plays Dennis, a man caught deep in a hole of his own making after getting a case of the cold feet and using them to run from his fiancee Libby (Thandie Newton) on their wedding day. Dennis the struggling man-boy tries to find redemption years later after developing a paunch and working as a pretty-crappy security guard at a lingerie store. Dennis' life sucks. It gets worse. When Dennis ran away, Libby happened to be pregnant and even his own son thinks he's a loser. When a new man, Whit (the movie-stealing Hank Azaria), enters the picture, Dennis kind of snaps. He decides that training to run a marathon through the streets of London against Whit will be the way to get his life back in order. Physical comedy ensues.

I clearly love Simon Pegg and Run Fatboy Run is more tolerable on DVD but, ultimately, it quite simply doesn't have enough laughs to recommend it. Pegg, Azaria, and even David Schwimmer have all worked on significantly better projects in the past, which makes the shocking number of jokes in Fatboy that fall flat kind of surprising. The film never builds up a steady pace of laughs, rushing forward in fits and starts like a runner who can't figure out how to win the race. It's odd, but it feels like co-writer Michael Ian Black, Pegg, and Schwimmer are actually trying to make the film more standard and generic instead of embracing the originality of the concept, which could have led to a weirdly charming laugher.

What is charming is the concept of getting a star's mother to appear on a commentary track. Run Fatboy Run was a huge hit in the U.K., where Pegg IS a household name, so the impressive special features were likely produced for that market, but fans stateside can enjoy them too. The commentary track with actor, actress, director, and MOM is charming and very enjoyable. It's yet another reminder that even if Run Fatboy Run doesn't quite work, it's made by people who are not just talented but incredibly easy to root for, something that can't easily be said about every comedy misfire.