Run fatboy run!! What a title for the debut directorial venture(of film not tv) of David Schwimmer of FRIENDS fame!! I watched it for the above mentioned reasons alone and it was indeed a surprise. It’s a simple British comedy movie about Dennis Doyle (simon pegg) who develops severe panic attack on his wedding day and decides to run away from his pregnant fiance Libby ( thandie norton) at the altar. Cut to the present day ( 5 years later) and Dennis is still running, as the security guard of a boutique in London but is utterly out of shape ( but not enough to call him fat in my opinion) and out of motivation, self esteem and pretty much anything a man needs to make it big in the world. He is now regretting his decision and spends or atleast tries to spend quality time with his son Jake.
Then everything seems to go downhill when Libby starts to date the perfect guy- Whit ( Hank Azaria)- he is rich, he is kind, is in fine shape and loves Jake... Whit and dennis do not see eye to eye especially since Whit makes it clear that he thinks and knows that he is better than dennis. When Whit says that he is intending to run the nike river marathon, dennis to spite him says he is enrolled too. When dennis’s attempt to slowly win back Libby crashes when Whit propose to her publicly at a party dennis decides to run the marathon for real... to complete atleast one task he jas started in his life.
Thus with the help of his indian landlord Mr Goshdashitar (harish patel)and his gambling addicted best friend who pledges everything he owns on dennis finishing the race, dennis starts training fully aware that there is no chance that he will ever win that race but thats not what counts to him. This is his personal way of showing Libby that he is a changed man , a man ready to take resposibility. Whether Dennis can finish his training, or even bring himself to the race forms the rest of the movie.
As you must be aware by now the movie is very simple but is heart warming. Simon Pegg is at his best here potraying a confused man. There is a scene where he confesses to Libby that he didnt run away from the wedding because of cold feet or because he didnt love her but because he he didnt want to limit the potential of the woman he loved by her marrying someone like him whom he didnt believe was good enough for her... that is a sure fire ’ lump throat’ scene for many I’m sure. Hank Araria plays his role superbly and so did Thandie norton. Harish Patel and Dylan Moran requires special mention for their realistic potrayal. Over all Run fatboy run is a surprisingly good film and worth watching once.