Run, Fat Boy, Run
Dir. David Schwimmer
Simon Pegg, Thandie Newton, Dylan Moran, Hank Azaria
4/5
Dennis Doyle [Pegg] is a prat. Not just because he lives alone in a one-bedroom basement flat. Not just because he is lonely, obsessed with his ex-girlfriend Libby [Newton] and working as a security guard in a lingerie store. Primarily it’s because he left her pregnant with their child. On their wedding day. What a cock. If it sounds light on plot, that’s because it is – basically, her new boyfriend Whit [Azaria] is a marathon runner whose slick self-assurance spurs Dennis to new heights of rage and jealousy, culminating in a thoroughly predictable showdown at the forefront of the 2007 Nike River Run. But before you dismiss Schwimmer’s directorial debut out of hand, it’s worth noting that his time on the set of Friends has instilled in him the importance of complex characters in any good story. While it’s a cookie-cutter setup, the characters are more than they seem; from Doyle’s fatherly instincts to Whit’s misguided attempts at camaraderie, every one has an emotional centre. At times Run, Fatboy, Run feels like a conflation of two different films – Newton and Azaria both have backgrounds in feel-good romantic comedies, but the big drawcards - Pegg and Moran – are best known for splatter comedies such as Hot Fuzz and Shaun Of The Dead (and of course Black Books). Ultimately there’s a lot more rom-com than the trailers may lead you to believe, and Moran is woefully under-used, but the film has other merits. No doubt critics will scoff at the unlikeliness of Doyle’s underdog victory, but the real success is that Schwimmer et al. have kept you watching till the end.