<img title="Image: http://www.myvivvo.com/thumbnail.php?file=run_fat_boy_run_285187114.jpg&amp;size=article_medium" src="http://www.myvivvo.com/thumbnail.php?file=run_fat_boy_run_285187114.jpg&amp;size=article_medium" alt="Run Fatboy Run">
										
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								<span>Never in a million years would have I imagined that what I 
saw tonight would have sprung from the minds of those that brought it to
 me.<br><br>When one thinks of the off-kilter, sometimes very bizarre 
comedy of Michael Ian Black (a writer and performer on the television 
shows The State and Viva Variety) and the geek-centric, genius-level 
parody of Simon Pegg (Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz), odds are you’re 
not thinking that the two would work together to create a heartwarming, 
adorable romantic comedy about a man trying to prove himself to his 
ex-fiancee and his son by running and completing a marathon. But that’s 
exactly what Run Fatboy Run is. Neither weird nor coming within fifty 
miles of making a direct reference to another film, this seems to play 
outside the safety zones of both Pegg and Black. And yet together, under
 the direction of TV’s Ross (David Schwimmer –- don’t pretend you didn’t
 know which Ross I was talking about), the result is a delightfully 
endearing piece of modern, mainstream, even somewhat predictable, 
comedy.<br><br>And I loved every minute.<br><br>It was no secret that 
Schwimmer was going to attempt to become the Jonathan Frakes of the 
Friends troupe, having directed a dozen different episodes of the 
long-running series. But unlike Frakes (who went from starring on and 
directing episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation to directing 
gawd-awful children’s fare like Clockstoppers and Thunderbirds), 
Schwimmer comes out swinging with one hell of a directorial debut. Sure,
 it isn’t particularly cutting-edge or career redefining. Instead it 
plays to his strengths and to the audience most apt to seek out his 
work. Friends, after all, was a weekly episodic romantic comedy that 
only began to run out of steam once every permutation possible between 
the cast members had been played out. So Schwimmer took everything he 
learned on that long-running show and funneled that into a real 
crowd-pleaser of a comedy.<br><br>Rather than focusing upon the standard
 boy-meets-girl/boy-loses-girl/boy-gets-girl back formula, Run Fatboy 
Run is entirely about the getting girl back portion of the film. As the 
film opens, Dennis (Simon Pegg) is leaving his pregnant fiancee at the 
altar. Cut to five years later and his life is in shambles. The love of 
his life has found someone else and his son might find himself with a 
new and more together father. So he envisions the only thing he can to 
win his family back – run in the same marathon as his ex-fiancee’s new 
suitor.<br><br>But as the film wears on, it becomes less about winning 
back the girl and more about winning her and their son’s respect. Even 
as it seems that he may never win her back, the film focuses upon the 
transformation taking place within Dennis as he realizes what he’s 
really fighting for.<br><br>Sound like you’ve heard it all before? Sure 
you have. In fact, watch this long enough and you can even guess the 
ending in a called shot that probably won't impress anyone you know. But
 romantic comedies aren’t about where you end up. They’re entirely about
 how you get there. And it is the how you get there that makes this 
something special. Here we have two comic talents (Black and Pegg) 
trying their hand at mainstream comedy (including gross-out jokes, 
swearing granny/youngster jokes, and a whole bevy of Jerky New Boyfriend
 jokes) and in doing so shows you how they’re done. They don’t try for 
the joke-a-minute formula. Instead they focus on solid, laugh out loud 
jokes that just plain work. And even if you don’t laugh, they refuse to 
let you roll your eyes. It is razor sharp wit that doesn’t require a 
razor sharp mind to enjoy it.<br><br>That’s not to say that this movie 
aims low. Sure, it’s more accessible than either of the writers is 
accustomed to and more along the lines of what Schwimmer is good at, but
 it hits everything that it aims for. It is careful, well-crafted comedy
 that will appeal to a broad audience. But it doesn’t reinvent the 
wheel. If you’re the type of person looking for something new, you won’t
 find it here. But it had the crowd cheering as much as they were 
laughing, and that's never a bad thing. About as solid as a film like 
this can be, it comes pretty well recommended.</span>
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