Using conventional slapstick gags and inventive crosscutting, David Schwimmer scores as a creditable, if not memorable, director...but the innocuous script is totally predictable.
Run, Fat Boy, Run (2008)
Runtime: 1 hr 35 mins
Genre: Comedies
Starring: Simon Pegg, Thandie Newton, Dylan Moran, Hank Azaria, Ameet Chana
Screenwriter: Michael Ian Black, Simon Pegg
Story: Michael Ian Black
Producer: Robert Jones, Sarah Curtis
Composer: Alex Wurman
Reviews
An unapologetic throwback to the days when comedies didn't have to be all that original -- just as long as they were funny.
Credit Pegg for inserting his smart brand of character-driven humor everywhere the script needed him (he polished up an old script by Michael Ian Black), and credit Schwimmer for keeping things moving quickly and efficiently.
Schwimmer just doesn't have the directorial wit to elevate the intermittently amusing script, and none of the cast seems dedicated enough to raise the bar either.
Although I did enjoy the incongruity of the characters, this well-intentioned low brow co-production does not quite make it to the finish line.
Schwimmer and Pegg have scored a win--largely due to tasteful choices in the subplotting and providing such a rich ensemble to tickle the shenanigans to a higher level.
It's as if [director David] Schwimmer managed to shoot himself in his foot with the starter's pistol.
Simon Pegg's considerable skills can only do so much to enliven the mediocre text of actor David Schwimmer's feature directing debut, a mildy humorous trifle with some heart but not enough hilarity.
Run, Fat Boy, Run shows that Simon Pegg can't rescue a derivative dud.
Run, Fatboy, Run is the type of romantic comedy apt to be described as "nice" or "sweet," both of which are codewords for "unexceptional" and "useless."
It's not hysterically funny, but this British comedy is sharp enough to keep us chuckling right to the predictably sappy conclusion.
...despite lacking marquee stars could do well with the date-night mainstream.
There are no surprises here -- just broad, frequently slapstick gags that don't avoid but do tamp down a bit on the bodily-function school of yokkery.
...excessive product-placement has turned the film into one enormous ad for Nike, with all the chilling humourlessness that this implies.
Pegg exudes his usual air of faint self-congratulation playing an unlikeable prat whom nobody in their right mind would prefer to the high- flying Azariah or indeed to anyone.
An enjoyable if patchy and predictable ride, but Simon Pegg shows he's more than capable of going the distance.
Related Forums
by: GBrother123 10/14/07
Photos
Videos
Watch Now >>
News
posted by Jeff Giles September 24, 2007
Simon Pegg and Nick Frost fans, take note: The duo will soon be bringing its act to America.