Run, Fat Boy, Run DVD > Reviews > A daft film but a good one!

Author's product rating:   

Did you enjoy it?	Loved it
Story	Outstanding
Characters / Performances	Outstanding
Special Effects	Good
How does it compare to similar films?	Outstanding

Advantages:	fun to watch
Disadvantages:	none

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

I love British films so I was very keen to watch Run, Fat Boy, Run on DVD and it turned out to be a bit daft in places but nevertheless an enjoyable film. It's the sort of film that is classed as comedy but with a bit of pathos thrown in for good measure. The basic storyline sort of reminded me of The Full Monty - the good guy has hit rock bottom, tends to be a lousy father, whilst former wife or girlfriend has a smarmy new guy in tow! Our hero has to do something drastic in order to prove that he is a good guy - in the Full Monty Robert Carlyle took his clothes off, in this film Simon Pegg sets out to run a marathon!

Simon Pegg plays Dennis who five years ago left a heavily pregnant Libby (Thandie Newton)on their wedding day. Five years later he has a bit of a dead end job as a security guard and Libby has a new boyfriend Whit (Hank Azaria) who seems to be tryng to take over the role of Dad to five year old Jake. Whit also is a marathon runner and in order to prove that he is just as good, Dennis enters the same race with only three weeks ago. There are some very funny moments as we follow his efforts to get fit right up to the big race.

I won't spoil it by saying what happens at the end as you'll have to watch it to see whether Dennis really does get to run the marathon and whether he does get to win his woman back! The marathon scenes are very enjoyable though, especially if you like watching all the ordinary runners in races like the London Marathon. I was also surprised to see the athlete Denise Lewis make a small cameo appearance as a commentator!

Dennis is a very likeable character and although he is the instigator of a lot of his own misfortune you can't help wanting to be his side. I didn't think that he was particularly fat though - just slightly overweight and unfit! Libby was also very likeable but you could also sympathise with her as you could see how she'd had to put up with Dennis over the years. The little boy Jake also has the cute factor which seems to be an essential ingredient for this type of film.

I also enjoyed the part played by Dylan Moran - Gordon who is Dennis's friend. I always enjoy his droll delivery and Gordon was the perfect sidekick for Dennis. Another enjoyable character was Mr Ghoshdashtidar, Dennis's landlord who is owed a considerable amount of rent. These two take on the roles of his coaches and they create a lot of the comedy in the film. There is one very funny moment, although somewhat disgustingly graphic, when after he has been running, Dennis has the most enormous blister on the bottom of his foot. Dennis persuades Gordon to burst it, which he does but is rewarded with a huge amount of pus sprayed in his face! It's one of those magic moments where you laugh out loud but your stomach lurches with disgust at the same time!

There is another funny scene when Dennis goes into Libby's bakery shop and tries to talk to her. There are a number of customers waiting and they all start joining in with the conversations, offering their opinions too. One of the customers was surprisingly David Walliams, who although he was only on for a small amount of time was very funny.

There is a good soundtrack to the film. One of my favourites was Keep on Running which was a very obvious choice for all the running scenes. There was also music from David Bowie and Girls Aloud!

Overall I thought this was a very enjoyable film and one that I would definitely want to watch again. It has a reasonable pace and kept my interest all the way through. THere were many moments when I laughed out loud but at other times it was also very moving. I enjoyed the basic storyline and thought the mixture of comedy and pathos was just right. At times it was a bit silly but what's wrong with that?

There aren't that many DVD extras but there are some funny out takes which might be worth watching. There is also commentary from the director who interestingly is David Schwimmer (Ross from Friends).

I bought my DVD from Amazon for only £8.98 which I thought was pretty reasonable as it only came out at the end of 2007.

Other things you might like to know is that the running time is 96 minutes and it has a 12 classification probably due to some mild swearing.