Run, Fat Boy, Run
Starring: Simon Pegg, Thandie Newton, Hank Azaria
Director: David Schwimmer
The film: Those looking for the genre-expanding Simon Pegg of Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz will walk away from Run, Fat Boy, Run somewhat perplexed.
There are moments - however brief - when the British actor/writer is allowed to shine but the film feels like a pale imitation of his earlier work. Pegg worked on a script from Michael Ian Black (ex of MTV's The State), apparently lifting the action from New York and taking it home to Britain. And there's a sinking feeling as the film progresses that someone high up in the studio wanted a production that fits a very simple Brit-com formula.
Hence there are faces familiar to an international audience - cameos from The Extras' Stephen Merchant and Little Britain's David Walliams, for example - and that tried and tested comedic play that sees an ordinary Joe up against the odds as he tries to make up for past mistakes.
It's been done far more successfully in the likes of The Full Monty but you have to give Pegg some credit for soldiering on valiantly. Without his enthusiasm, the film would be a complete disaster. He's certainly earned whatever they threw at him to act and to tweak the script.
