Run, Fat Boy, Run

Well it was on Film4, what do you want me to say? Its not very good though, nor do I have a lot to say about it just because it is so blah and unexceptional. Directed by David Schwimmer, the loveable nerd Ross from friends who somehow got with Jilted Jen, seriously who actually believed in that story?

The plot is that Dennis (Simon Pegg) was about to get married to Libby (Thandie Newton), but left her pregnant at the alter and ran out on her. Several years down the line, he regrets this and this is exacerbated by her new romantic interest, the strapping Whit, played by Hank Azaria, best know for his voices on The Simpsons. Whit is perfect, and he runs marathons, Dennis has never finished anything in his life, but as an attempt at one-upmanship and in order to win Libby’s respect he decided to run a 26 mile marathon, and the fatboy starts training, going on a journey, where he learns!

They spin, they spin, oh how they spin. Azaria and Pegg

Now the film is acted fairly well, particularly by Hank Azaria, who given the demise of The Simpsons as a TV show I hope to see more on the big screen. I quite like Simon Pegg and have enjoyed him in Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz and even the mixed How to Lose Friends and Alienate People. And I’m somewhat in love with Thandie Newton due to her remarkable resemblance to an ex. All the ingredients to a good bit of silly fun are there, and the story has enough legs to take it to the finishing line, with Simon Pegg, his landlord and best friend being perfectly likeable presences. But its just not funny enough, its not going to age well and will just fade into history like a banal wallflower, which is a shame because it could have been better with a funnier script and a bit more room for improv by Azaria and Pegg, in the end though its just a bit rubbish.

I give it 3 out of 10, nothing worth seeing here

And as far as the laughter tally goes, I chuckled once, and laughed once, and I can’t even remember what at, which I guess gets to the heart of the problem with this film, insufficient laughter. You’d get a better laugh typing “An Idiot Abroad – Travel Diary”, into youtube, trust me.