Run Fatboy Run... back to the video store
Written: Jul 21 '09 (Updated Jul 21 '09)
|
Product Rating:
|
|
|
Pros:
Good Ending
Cons:
Lackluster Beginning
The Bottom Line:
Run Fatboy Run (aka Run Fat Boy Run) is an uneven tale with a good finale and many funny moments weakened by a tasteless and wandering start.
|
|
|
| WulfsDen's Full Review: Run, Fat Boy, Run |
Let's face it, long before he played Montgomery Scott in the Star Trek restart, most folks knew that Simon Pegg was funny. Shaun of the Dead was funny enough to kill people (and leave them staggering down the aisles looking for popcorn). Hot Fuzz was, if possible, funnier still. I laughed so hard during the big fight scene that I could not breathe and I had to be resuscitated by Wulfette several times. It would seem then that you cannot go wrong with Run Fatboy Run, his 2007 offering. However, while it certainly has its moments, is uneven and somewhat of a disappointment.
First, this tale may seem very familiar, especially to those who saw Michael Douglas in Running (1979) or even Sly Stallone in Rocky (1976), to name but a few. To say this storyline is derivative would be an understatement.
Simon Pegg plays Dennis Doyle, a not too likeable loser who runs away from any form of commitment. After he literally runs away from his pregnant girlfriend Libby (Thandie Newton) minutes before the wedding, his life becomes a continuing downward spiral. He tries to be a decent father to his son, Jake (Matthew Fenton), while secretly harboring hopes that he and Libby will get back together. Those hopes are dashed when Jake reveals that Libby and her new, rich, successful boyfriend Whit (Hank Azaria) have been "bouncing on the bed" during a "sleepover". Ho hum...
Upon learning that Whit is training to run in a marathon, Dennis decides that the only way he can get his life back on track is to run the marathon too. This does not make much sense, not even to the characters. Since the only attempt Dennis makes to train is to run to the corner of the block in a pair of too tight speedos, while sucking on a fag (cigarette in britspeak), this seems to be one more failure in the making. However, his best friend, Libby's cousin Gordon (Dylan Moran), sees it as a chance to win back his gambling losses, and decides to train him. His kindly landlord, Mr. Goshdashtidar (Harish Patel) also, for some inexplicable reason, believes in Dennis, and makes himself assistant coach. On the other hand, Goshdashtidar's gorgeous daughter Maya (India de Beaufort -- best known as Aneka, Krod Mandoon's sexy, pagan, nymphomaniac girlfriend) has an entirely different agenda.
To me, Run Fatboy Run is a tale of two movies. The first half of the movie is a disjointed series of cheap jokes that, while moderately funny in their own right, do little to further the plot or the character development. There are just so many times that we need to be shown that Dennis is pea brained, chain smoking, beer guzzling, out of shape loser. For example, when he is apparently getting a HJ from a mannequin in the window of the fashion boutique at which he works, much to the horror of the passers by in the street outside, it is funny. However, it would be much funnier if it wasn't the umpteenth version of the same joke that is shown, and funnier still if it had anything to do with the plotline. The rusty screw and the blister joke, although disgusting, would have been funny had I not been eating my supper.
Strangely enough, it is not until the "serious" second half of the movie when the audience starts to get behind Dennis that the real laughs begin. And when, in a series of Rube Goldberg events, the stars start to line up in his favor, despite the triteness of the plot, you cannot help but cheer.
Don't forget, however, that this is a British comedy. The cast, with two notable exceptions, are not pretty, but more everyday persons, warts and all. And the resolution is not as clear-cut and shrink-wrapped as it would have been in the USA. Once Run Fatboy Run stops the stupid cheap shots, this is essentially a comedy about real people. Blatant sexual themes, off color jokes, and nudity make this movie an unsuitable choice for children.
While Simon Pegg makes a decent job as Dennis, this is a role he has played many times before. In many ways, Dennis is indistinguishable from Shaun. Dylan Moran however, as the charming but totally unscrupulous Gordon, steals every scene he is in. And Harish Patel is surprisingly good as the unexpectedly sympathetic Goshdashtida. The scenes with all three of them are the best in the movie. Hank Asaria carries his role, but his uptight performance somehow reminds me of David Schwimmer from Friends, who, in a strange and unholy coincidence, directed Run Fatboy Run. I cannot help but think that this material may have worked better with a Brit at the helm.
I would really like to give Run Fatboy Run 4 stars. I like Simon Pegg, and the latter part of the movie is definitely 4-star material, but unfortunately, the first part of the movie is simply too long and too blah! I give it three stars only then, and a mildly recommended, especially for fans of British humor.
Recommended:
Yes
|
|
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.