# Run Fatboy Run - DVD Review



## wbassett (Feb 8, 2007)

[img]http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l190/wbassett/HTS/MovieReviews/RunFatBoy/51D1kaTfyIL__SL500_AA240_.jpg[/img]

Actors: Hank Azaria, Thandie Newton, Harish Patel, Dylan Moran, Simon Pegg 
Directors: David Schwimmer 
Format: Anamorphic, Color, DVD-Video, Full Screen, Widescreen, NTSC 
Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround), English (Dolby Digital 5.1) 
Subtitles: English, Spanish 
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 
Number of discs: 1 
Rating: PG-13
Studio: Warner Home Video 
DVD Release Date: September 23, 2008 
Run Time: 100 minutes 



English humor is an acquired taste for some but Simon Pegg has been able to cross the pond and make us stodgie American's laugh as well as his native Brits.


[img]http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l190/wbassett/HTS/MovieReviews/RunFatBoy/285_runfatboy_032508.jpg[/img]
Run Fatboy Run is Pegg's latest foray since the popular surprise hit Hot Fuzz. This time out Pegg plays Dennis Doyle, a stuck in a rut loser who can't seem to get anything right in his life. Five years earlier Dennis runs out on his pregnant fiancé on their wedding day, an act he constantly regrets. When we catch up with him years later, he’s a chubby security guard sprinting after a shoplifter. 

Dennis is still very much in love with Elizabeth, his former bride to be, but he is especially close to his son Jake. When Elizabeth begins to move on with her life and Dennis realizes she is involved with Whit, a high profile Investment broker, his desire to win her back goes into overdrive. Not knowing what to do or how to impress Elizabeth, Dennis decides to run in the Nike River Marathon as a sign that he actually can finish something he starts. Of course he is also motivated to enter the marathon because Whit is also entered. The thing is Dennis is in horrible shape and only has three weeks to get ready to go the distance.





[MOUSE]Fun Fact: The original script centered on the running of the Los Angeles Marathon. Once a UK production team decided to make the film, the location was changed to London. Because another film had already secured the rights to the London Marathon, the filmmakers invented "The Nike River Run" to take its place.[/MOUSE]​
[img]http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l190/wbassett/HTS/MovieReviews/RunFatBoy/run-fat-boy-run-9.jpg[/img]Run Fatboy Run has some humorous moments but it isn't nearly as funny or witty as Hot Fuzz or Sean of the Dead. Still it was enjoyable to watch. Pegg always comes across as a like-able slacker (or in the case of Hot Fuzz, over achiever) and he pulls it off here as well. The secondary characters are underdeveloped and a bit of a cliché, in fact we've seen Dennis' best friend Gordon tried hard to be the quirky best buddy type that Pegg and Nick Frost were so successful at pulling off, but it just doesn't work here. At times I felt like they lifted part of Gordon's character from Hugh Grant's room mate 'Spike' in Notting Hill (played spot on by Rhys Ifans) but again they missed the mark.

Where the movie fails really can't be totally blamed on Pegg. That honor can squarely be placed on first time big screen director David Schwimmer from the long running TV series Friends. Schwimmer has directed TV before but he seemed to want to play it 'safe' with Run Fatboy Run and reigned in Pegg some it seems. Pegg is an enormously hilarious chap and Schwimmer should have let him loose with the material. It may not have appealed to a wide audience, but it certainly would have pleased Pegg's fan base- which isn't exactly small in and of itself. In the end they both missed the mark with this one. Run Fatboy could have been another smash hit, instead it wallowed around in the mediocre hoping for a wider audience. 




Don't get me wrong, Schwimmer is a bit underrated and stereo typed by his Friends alter ego. I wouldn't say he is a great actor, but he certainly isn't the worse out there. As a director he could have done worse for his first big screen outing.

[MOUSE]Fun Fact #2 As an interesting side note, this isn't the first time Schwimmer and Pegg have worked together. Their last time on the same project was a bit more serious though. Both had small parts in the HBO hit mini series Band of Brothers.[/MOUSE]​

Unlike Hot Fuzz, there is nothing spectacular here about the sound track... no chest thumping bass or scenes to show off your sound system. The picture quality is the same as the sound, not bad but nothing that stands out.

The special features include deleted scenes, out takes, and goofs... many of which are actually funnier than the movie and possibly should have been left in, or at least re-shot to capture the playful and fun atmosphere Pegg tends to create on the set.

Pegg is definitely up and coming and soon to be an immediate icon and convention staple of his own. In case anyone has been living in a cave for the past year what I am talking about is Pegg is Scotty in the new Star Trek reboot flick due out later this year.

I can't fully recommend this one as a must see or run out and buy it now, but if you're flipping through the channels on a lazy weekend afternoon and come across Run Fatboy, it's worth a look see if nothing else is on that catches your interest. It has its moments, but never fully hits the mark.

Plot :2.5stars:
Picture Quality :3stars:
Sound :2.5stars:
Extras :3.5stars:


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## panther3769 (Feb 8, 2009)

*Re: Run Fatboy Run*

I thought this was a good romantic comedy. Hot Fuzz was awesome, but it was going for more action/comedy so you will get different type humor when you do an action or romantic movie. 
I would rate this 3.5/5


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