Rating of
2/4
"Run Fatboy Run" by Yojimbo
Yojimbo - wrote on 02/03/12
Commitment-phobe Dennis Doyle, who left his pregnant girlfriend at the altar enters a marathon in an attempt to prove that he has changed and win her back. Simon Pegg proves to be the latest comedy casualty to sacrifice his credibility to stick his snout in the Hollywood trough, and stars in yet another in a long line of interchangable British rom-coms. In fact it looked as if he was only cast because he was cheaper than Hugh Grant because his character and performance are nearly identical to that of Grant in About A Boy, and the script is just a rehash of the same tired old formula of Nick Hornby-style "Bridget Jones' Diary pour l'homme". It's just another "guy who refuses to grow up is threatened by handsome, rich new contender for his love's affections grows as a person while the newbie turns out to be a shit" story with some montages of weak slapstick, liberally soaked in bathos and all Schwimmer's direction brings to the table is American saccharine and some clod hopping visual metaphors. The soundtrack is the inevitable mix of old britpop for the "funny" bits and tracks taken off an "acoustic moods" compilation CD for the "serious" bits and the only real saving grace is Dylan Moran as the obligatory slobbish best friend. He supplies all of the sparse laughs but he's basically playing Bernard Black again which just made me wish I was watching Black Books instead of this predictable, sterilized sitcom.
