Film Review
"Run, Fatboy, Run."
Jennifer Fratangelo
Issue date: 4/21/08 Section: Entertainment
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The film follows Dennis, played by Simon Pegg of "Shaun of the Dead" and "Hot Fuzz" fame, a commitment phobic slightly out of shape mall security guard who made the mistake five years prior of leaving his pregnant girlfriend Libby (Thandie Newton) at the altar. When Dennis meets Libby's new perfect, rich boyfriend Whit (Hank Azaria), who regularly runs marathons for charities, he realizes he needs to win her back by showing her he can finish something he started and run a marathon against Whit.
The film has some genuinely funny scenes, usually involving Dennis and his training for the marathon. For example, while trying to be like Rocky Balboa, Dennis attempts to drink egg yolks and promptly spits them right back up. His conversations with his best friend and borderline gambling addict, Gordon (Dylan Moran) and his landlord Mr. Goshdashtidar (Harish Patel), who helps him train by hitting him with a spatula, are also quite humorous.
Unfortunately the film relies heavily on cliches, which makes parts of the film laughable and not in a good way. "The wall," that point where a runner reaches a mental and physical block and usually is forced to give up, is often brought up throughout the film. When Dennis reaches it, an actual wall that only he and the audience can see appears and he physically "breaks" through it in order to finish the race. Other cliches that appear are that bets are placed on whether or not Dennis finishes the race, an 'unexpected' proposal, and Libby not realizing how awful Whit really is until the last fifteen minutes of the film.
Cliches and all, the film is laugh out loud funny. If you have some extra cash it's not a bad film to spend it on. Definitely rent the DVD when it is released.
"Run, Fatboy, Run" is 100 minutes and rated PG-13 for some rude and sexual humor, nudity, language, and smoking.
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