Run Fatboy Run

A man (Simon Pegg) gets dumped by his long-term girlfriend (Thandiwe Newton), so decides to run a marathon to try to impress her and win her back. Hank Azaria plays the new boyfriend and Dylan Moran plays the quirky best friend.

Quite a pedestrian rom-com from David Schwimmer, that has a couple of zingers but is otherwise happy to coast and play it safe. Simon Pegg is a schlubby security guard puching above his weight romantically. Thandie Newton owns a cute bakery (the women’s arts). Hank Azaria is a wanker banker. Dylan Moran is a chain-smoking layabout. Add in some poorly executed Nike product placement and it’s all looking pretty uninspired.

The back story is that Pegg left Newton at the altar, but this isn’t established convincingly and therefore the stakes for the whole film’s redemption arc aren’t that high. They even give him a son he could lose to add some emotional heft to it, but it doesn’t really work.

You’re left wondering why she’d want to be with either of these guys, she should just take her kid and run for the hills.

There is an air of optimism to the film that I hadn’t realised at the time wouldn’t last forever. London looks good and the shiny new buildings are symbols of progress (now they have been sold to the Saudis). There’s a scene where Simon Pegg stands in front of the Gherkin and looks in awe at it, and I remember that feeling at the time. So that’s nice I suppose.