Run Fatboy Run (2007)

Director: David Schwimmer

Writers: Michael Ian Black, Simon Pegg

Composer: Alex Wurman

Starring: Simon Pegg, Thandie Newton, Hank Azaria, Dylan Moran, Harish Patel, India de Beaufort, Matthew Fenton, Simon Day, Ruth Sheen, David Walliams

More info: IMDb

Tagline: Love. Commitment. Responsibility. There's nothing he can't run away from.

Plot: Dennis is a clueless and slightly overweight guy, who left his pregnant fiancée five years earlier. Every day, Dennis tries to persuade the woman he loves to accept him back into his life, but everyday he fails. When he discovers that Libby has found a partner in the form of American Whit, frustration grows, and Dennis vows, that for once in his life, he will finish something. This something ends up being a Nike River-run in London. With his friends Gordon and Mr. Ghoshdashtidar by his side, Dennis begins training for the marathon he must finish.

My rating: 7/10

Will I watch it again? Nah.

Cute flick.  Simon Pegg is always delightful and his presence adds a lot to the picture.  Thandie Newton is great.  Hell, the whole cast is great.  How about that kid, Jake (Fenton)?  Adorable little cuss he was.  I about peed myself when he had the controller for Whit's (Azaria) hospital bed in his hands.  "No, but you can watch".  Priceless.  There are some great gags but it's the cast that sells them.  The elephant in the room is there's no way anyone who doesn't exercise regularly can prepare to run/jog a 26 mile marathon in three weeks.  But this is the world of movies.  It didn't bother me but I couldn't help but think it.  The last few minutes of the film from the time Dennis (Pegg) meets the brick wall till the end were great, funny and touching.  Seeing David Walliams pop up in a cameo was great fun.  And there's a Spencer Davis Group song, Keep on Running, that plays prominently in the film and it was bugging me about how closely it resembled George Harrison's tune, What Is Life (used wonderfully in GOODFELLAS (1990)).  Keep predates Life by 5 years.  It sounds like George ripped them off.  It's interesting that What is Life is on the same album that another song where he was sued is on it, My Sweet Lord, which sounds like just like He's So Fine by The Chiffons.  Hmmm.