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List Price: $14.98 | | Label: Warner Home Video
Salesrank: 4661
Released: September 23, 2008 |
| Our Price: Too low to display |
| Used Price: $1.02 |
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MPAA Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
It's the London Marathon, and thousands of feet pound along the Thames Embankment. Two of those feet belong to out-of-shape, out-of-luck Dennis Doyle. He's running to gain the respect (and hopefully, the love) of Libby, the girl he left pregnant and heartbroken at the altar five years earlier. And running alongside Dennis is Libby's handsome, successful, self-confident and very fit new boyfriend.
Description of Run, Fatboy, Run:
It only makes sense that a television star would turn to a fellow practitioner for his first film. With Run Fatboy Run--no commas, please--Friends' David Schwimmer doesn't reinvent the romantic comedy, but he finds the perfect lovable loser of a lead in TV vet Simon Pegg (Faith in the Future, Spaced). On his wedding day, London lay-about Dennis (Pegg, who co-wrote with Michael Ian Black) deserts his pregnant fiancée, Libby (Crash's Thandie Newton), seconds before the ceremony. Crippling insecurity--which remains unexplored--prevents him from finishing anything ("Not even a sentence," Libby quips). Flash-forward five years, and he's a loving dad to son Jake (the charming Matthew Fenton), but sports a small potbelly, smokes too much and entertains no ambition beyond his job as security guard at a high-end boutique. Fortunately, he has friends, like gambler Gordon (Shaun of the Dead co-star Dylan Moran) and avuncular landlord Mr. Ghoshdashtidar (Harish Patel). Fit American financier Whit (Huff's Hank Azaria) shakes up his routine when he starts seeing Libby. To win her back, Dennis trains for the same 26-mile charity marathon as Whit. No one believes he can make it to the end, and even Dennis has doubts, but true love is a formidable motivator. It may not have been Schwimmer's intention, but there's more chemistry between the buddies than the couples. That makes the movie a must for fans of Pegg and the scene-stealing Moran--but optional for admirers of Newton and Azaria. --Kathleen C. Fennessy
Run, Fatboy, Run Reviews:
Great Romantic/Comedy that delivers in all aspects! 
2009-10-26 - A great romantic comedy that makes you think about what motivates you in life. I thought it would have been a bit more humorous from previous attempts such as Hott Fuzz and Shawn of the Dead, but the movie more than made up for it in the storyline and believable characters.
silly movie
2009-09-09 - I would give it two and a half stars as it really was your average romantic comedy, then I would bump it up a star by the comic genious of Pegg, then I would throw in one extra half star for what has to be one the funniest lines delivered by the 'dead pan' Moran
" you left her pregnant standing at the alter, ( pause ) women tend to remember these things ",
Run Fatboy Run DVD 
2009-09-07 - If you enjoy inter-racial British romantic comedies, you have to experience this wonderful heart-felt and hilarious movie. The slightly odd, but incredibly funny male actor (Simon Pegg) not only proves his love for his beautiful, intelligent, sexy, and knocked-up fiancée and wife-to-be, but proves something for himself - that he can meet the challenge/goal when he sets his mind on it. In short, you won't regret seeing this fantastic movie. Enjoy!!!
EXCELLENT DEBUT FOR DIRECTOR SCHWIMMER
2009-07-26 - David Schwimmer (yes, "Ross" from friends") makes his directorial debut with this film and doesn't do a bad job (note to Mr. Schwimmer - stay on that side of the camera). Simple story : Boy leaves pregnant girlfriend at the altar. Several years later, boy realizes what he was missing, but girlfriend has new boyfriend who is about to run a marathon. Boy decides the only way to get her back is to run against the new boyfriend...etc etc.
It's more detailed than that, but you get the gist. Simon Pegg (Shaun of the Dead) plays the deadbeat Dennis Doyle to perfection. He's just go that "every man" look about him which suits the part. Hank Azaria (Godzilla, Mystery Men) plays his nemesis very well too.
For someone who has not been back to London in many years, this film felt a little like a trip down memory lane. The films is set all over the city and is diverse in locations and cast members. Doyle is a loser. He's a security guard in a women's underwear store who can't even catch a shoplifter. His decision to run in a Nike challenge (product placement galore) is motivated purely by a desire to get his girlfriend back from her all-American stud boyfriend. The Anglo-American rivalry is set, though it's not transparently obvious in the conflict (ie no one resorts to calling anyone "brit" or "yank"), but it's a clash of lifestyle, culture and egos. The film pokes gentle fun at everyone, from the stereotypical characters to the over-the-top media coverage of the marathon's dramatic climax.
The ending is perfect, and I was surprised that the tension towards the end really worked well. I think Schwimmer has a promising directorial career ahead. The film doesn't have the "silly" humor or the laugh-upon-laugh of "Shaun of the Dead". It's a little more subtle, but just as, if not more satisfying.
Well worth watching.
Not as bad as I feared 
2009-06-22 - The protagonist of this intermittently amusing comedy is Dennis, the latest in an endless series of male "heroes" unwilling or unable to grow up. Dennis gets a case of the jitters on his wedding day and takes off at a sprint, leaving his heavily-pregnant bride on the altar. Fast forward several years and we find Dennis working as a security agent in a lingerie store and living in a squalid bedsit, smoking heavily, almost broke, getting fat and barely involved with his son. By now, he's realized he's still in love with the woman he abandoned, but she's become involved with Whit, a rich, way-too-smooth, slimy, hedge fund manager from Chicago who also happens to be a marathon runner played with appropriate creepiness by Hank Azaria. Dennis has the dum idea that if he can run the marathon and beat Whit, he could win back his beloved.
As a real runner, I found it laughable that an unfit smoker could get in shape for the marathon in three weeks. But of course, one shouldn't take this kind of fluff seriously.
Various complications ensue -- I won't give them away -- and of course the movie winds its way to its expected finish.
Pluses -- occasionally funny moments, great shots of London and Azaria's creepy performance.
Minuses - it's silly, the hero is another immature boy-man who refuses to grow up and I'm getting really sick of them.
