Run Fatboy Run Review
So, I went to see Run Fatboy Run today, the new film starring Simon Pegg. I’d heard some really good things about this film so I was looking forwards to it, and I was suprised to be… very unimpressed. This was not good. Really not good.
Now, ok, so, I’m a huge fan of Simon Pegg’s, and of the whole new comedy group that he works with, so don’t think I’m at all biased against him. I adore his work, and Dylan Moran’s, and indeed Moran gives by far the best performance here as the dodgy cousin of Libby, Pegg’s character’s almost-wife. The sequences with him and his incredibly dubious poker buddies are the highlight of this otherwise dreary picture.
So what’s actually wrong with it? Well, the direction is uninspired, but not awful, and the production values are suprisingly good now I come to think about it. The actors all give pretty solid performances, but apart from Moran aren’t exceptional. To be honest, and this is where a film should shine, it is the script that really lets Run Fatboy Run down. There are a couple of good moments (the commentary by the flustered BBC reporter at the end entertains) but for the most part it’s lackluster and unexciting. It is bereft of the usual Pegg flair, and I have to wonder why. Instead of the usual surreal and smart dialogue we have slightly uncomfortable slapstick, and shock swearing that’s clearly supposed to be funny.
Which is a suprise until I notice David Schwimmer’s named tacked onto it, and it all clicks into place. The reason this feel uncomfortable, a balance between a no-brain US comedy and a sensitive British rom-com, is that Schwimmer is clearly battling against Pegg for control.
Or maybe I’m being mean. Who knows.
Overall rating? Probably a five or six out of ten. It’s not a *bad* film by any stretch, but I wouldn’t watch it again either. The beginning was slow and pretty depressing, but the ending pulled it up out of total mediocracy. All in all, a slow and dull film that can’t quite work out what it wants to be.
Tags: cinema, David Schwimmer, Dylan Moran, films, Reviews, Run Fatboy Run, Simon Pegg
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