When Dennis Doyle fled from Libby, his pregnant wife-to-be, on their wedding day, he thought that he was doing them both a favour. Five years later, Dennis has had plenty of time to reflect on that day, and he is sure of one thing - he wants Libby back. The only problem is that Libby now has a new man in her life - a good-looking, successful American called Whit, who is planning to run the London Marathon and is slowly gaining a place in Dennis' son's heart. To impress Libby and show his son and friends that he is not the loser that they all believe he is, Dennis decides to run the marathon himself. Will he be able to turn himself from couch potato to marathon runner? Or is he doomed to fail yet again?
Simon Pegg is Dennis Doyle. This is not a difficult role for him to take on - in fact, he plays pretty much the same character in Hot Fuzz, Shaun of the Dead and Spaced - but there is something about his character that strikes a chord with me and a lot of the British public - he is an underdog after all and the Brits love an underdog. I personally found him just as funny in this film as I have in others and am far from getting fed up of his hang-dog looks. I can't wait for another dose.
I am glad to see that Dylan Moran has a major role in this film as Dennis' best friend, Gordon. He is a perfect foil to Dennis' daft ideas, and even has several of his own to throw into the mix. Moran's own cynical sense of humour does manage to find its way into Gordon's characteristics, although he is neither as stroppy or rude as in Black Books. I thoroughly enjoyed his performance, especially in a fight scene with Dennis. Dennis' landlord, Mr Goshtashtidar is played by Harish Patel, who manages to inject more humour into the proceedings by constantly berating Gordon's attempts at making a life for himself.
Thandie Newton doesn't really bring all that much to the film as Libby, but I am not sure that she is really supposed to - all that was really asked of her was to look good and be sensible, and she certainly managed to do that, but so could any number of actresses. I did really enjoy Hank Azaria's performance as Whit though. I spent the first part of the film trying to work out why he was so familiar - he played Pheobe's boyfriend, David, in Friends. Once I'd worked that out, I really loved his over-the-top performance as an American in the UK - loud, successful and over-confident - which is really different from David's stuttering, shy mannerisms. I look forward to seeing more of his work - hope he stays over here!
I've read quite a lot of criticism about this film, mainly that it is not in the same league as Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz. Personally, I liked it every bit as much. I adore these home-grown British comedies, and the fact that this was directed by an American, David Schwimmer, has not been at all detrimental. I think that this is the first film that Schwimmer has directed (although he has directed episodes of Friends and Joey in the past) and I think he did a more than adequate job. There is nothing outstanding about his work, but it all looks very well put together to me, more so than some Hollywood films these days. Anyone who knows London well will recognise a lot of the locations, which added to my sense of enjoyment.
I suspect that a lot of people who didn't enjoy the film as much as I did will have gone into it with very high expectations. Having read the criticisms, I didn't really have any, and so enjoyed it for what it is - a great British comedy. I can certainly see myself watching this one time after time and I am glad that I went to the effort of purchasing my own copy. And having an interest in running is not really a prerequisite - there is obviously a lot of time spent showing Dennis' training, but it is so interspersed with humour that there is never time to get bored.
The plot is fairly mundane, especially when compared to Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz. However, I really liked the simplicity, because I was able to appreciate the humour, the quality of the performances and the character development - something that I didn't really have time to do with the other films. And I really loved the ending. I don't want to give too much away, suffice it to say that I found it really convincing - definitely something that could happen in this wonderful country of ours. The film left me feeling full of hope and enthusiam for life, and there's not much that can do that these days!
I think that most people will enjoy this film, although to what extent depends on expectations, and that includes people of most age groups and both sexes. I'm glad I went to the effort of seeing this film and I think it is a welcome addition to the growing selection of British comedies. Highly recommended.
The DVD is available from play.com for £6.99, although I'm sure that in time the price will come down further.
Classification: 12
Running time: 100 minutes
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Soundtrack
Outstanding
How does it compare to others by the same director?
Good
Value for Money
Excellent
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