The wit is fit in 'Run Fatboy Run'

By Steve Persall, Times Film Critic
In print: Thursday, March 27, 2008

Simon Pegg, left, plays an unlikely visitor to the gym who plans to win a marathon in Run Fat Boy Run.
	[Picturehouse]

Story Tools E-mail this story Contact the editor Print this story Comment on this story Social Bookmarking [+] Digg Facebook Stumbleupon Reddit Del.icio.us Newsvine

ADVERTISEMENT

The surprise about Run Fatboy Run is a stunner: How did two of the least funny, most off-putting television stars create such a buoyant romantic comedy?

I never liked David Schwimmer — the mouth-breathing "Ross" on Friends — but at least he kept Jennifer Aniston close by. I never laughed at Michael Ian Black's snarky comments on VH1 clip shows, or understood why his comedy troupe Stella deserved any gigs.

Run Fatboy Run operates as if someone else is using their names. Schwimmer, Black and co-writer/star Simon Pegg don't reinvent the wheel of romantic comedy but keep it rolling smoothly, tweaking the genre ever so slightly. We know what to expect, yet there are often nice surprises.

For starters, Pegg isn't a conventional leading man: squat, balding and nonsuave British. "I'm not fat; I'm just not fit," he says as Dennis, a schlub with a hot former lover named Libby (Thandie Newton), whom he left pregnant at the altar, and a seemingly flawless rival named Whit (Hank Azaria), raring to take over his responsibilities. Pegg's casting makes the dilemma more credible; his timing (previously displayed in Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz) makes it funnier.

Dennis' desperation to reunite with Libby leads the chain-smoking ale hound to prove his love: He'll complete the London charity marathon that Whit is so well-prepared to run. The race is only two weeks away. Upping the ante is Dennis' pal Gordon (Dylan Moran), who bets his gambling debt to lowlifes that Dennis will finish.

We can predict everything leading to the finish line. Dennis will rise, fall and rise again to the challenge. His moppet son (Matthew Fenton) will see dad in a new light. Libby will resist and waver at Dennis' sincere devotion. Whit will prove himself to be a much different man than he appears to be. Gordon's kneecaps won't be broken.

Yet the movie works, as Schwimmer propels Run Fatboy Run through its paces, as Black and Pegg's screenplay embraces the familiar yet makes it a bit different. The key scenes aren't between Dennis and Libby but Dennis and Whit, two men enamored of the same prize, using their best weapons — wealth for Whit and wit for Dennis — to capture it.

Pegg and Azaria make terrific foils, especially in a locker room scene that perfectly contrasts their characters. Newton is fetching enough to avoid being overshadowed. Schwimmer slows the pace occasionally for flashbacks to Libby falling in love with younger, fitter Dennis, and we can understand.

Such touches make it easier to digest the inevitable sweetness, if not to digest Schwimmer and Black — anywhere else.

Steve Persall can be reached at persall@sptimes.com or (727) 893-8365. Read his blog at blogs.tampabay.com/movies.