Stealth Entertainment: Run Fat Boy Run
By Scott Lumley
December 11, 2008
BoxOfficeProphets.com

Work it you sexy beast!
Hollywood is a machine. Every week, every month and every year countless films are released into theatres and not every one is as successful as the studio heads would hope. Sometimes the publicity machine was askew, sometimes the movie targeted an odd demographic, sometimes the release was steamrolled by a much larger movie and occasionally the movie is flat out bad.

But Hollywood's loss is our gain. There is a veritable treasure trove of film out there that you may not have seen. I will be your guide to this veritable wilderness of unwatched film. It will be my job to steer you towards the action, adventure, drama and comedy that may have eluded you, and at the same time, steer you away from some truly unwatchable dreck.

Hopefully we'll stumble across some entertainment that may have slid under your radar. Wish us luck.

Run Fat Boy Run (2007)

Run Fat Boy Run is one of those films that drives you crazy as you try to write a review for it. Do you talk about the slightly offensive title? Should you go into Simon Pegg's penchant for playing unlikable characters? Do you mention the oddball ensemble supporting cast? Should I talk about how I initially strongly disliked this movie and the places it was taking me yet by the end I wanted to own a copy?

Let's talk about all of these things.

First, let's talk about that oddball cast. There's Simon Pegg obviously, cast as out of shape loser Dennis Doyle, his ex-fiancée Libby O'Dell (Thandie Newton), her new fiancé Whitt (Hank Azaria), his sleazy, thieving gambler friend Gordon (Dylan Moran), his landlord/ spatula wielding coach Mr. Goshdashtidar (Harish Patel) and his lovely young daughter Maya G. Dash (India de Beaufort). Aside from Newton, who I thought brought little to the role of jilted angry ex-fiancée, most of this casting was note perfect. Harish Patel was particularly outstanding in his role, making a throwaway character into something memorable and hilarious. I went and looked him up, and I wasn't exactly surprised when I found out that he was a film veteran with almost a hundred film roles to his credit.

Unfortunately, most of these roles appear to be in Indian cinema, so I don't know if I'll be attending a Harish Patel film festival any time soon. If some studio signs Pegg and Patel into a buddy cop movie, I'll be first in line for that one because these two just played off each other beautifully.

Also, let's talk about the title. "Run Fat Boy Run" is a taunt from Whitt to Dennis during the big race at the end of the movie. It's a nice quotable line in a movie that's filled with a lot of quotable lines, actually. The whole script is clever and well written with a lot of comedic opportunity for everybody. Gordon and Mr. Goshdashitar have two of the most memorable lines I've ever heard in any movie and that's saying something. Oddly, few of these lines come from Doyle, which is strange as he is the title character in this film.

That's kind of a recurring theme with Pegg, as he seems to be very comfortable playing characters that are borderline unlikeable. I'm unsure if that's a flaw in his acting style or hidden genius. I do know that the majority of the BOP staff love Pegg quite a bit, but I strongly suspect that is based strongly on his tenure on Spaced, a show I honestly have yet to see. Whatever the reason is, I certainly like him. Pegg's Doyle is aimiable if a bit inept and cowardly. He's a man afraid of being a failure, and that fear has kept him from ever taking a risk or accepting any responsibility. That's pretty much a career plan that makes minimum wage barely achievable, and that's where Doyle is at the start of the movie, chasing down transvestite panty thieves at a women's lingerie store.

Doyle ends up taking a good, long hard look at his own life when Whitt comes into the picture and starts romancing his ex-fiancée. He realizes that he is on the verge of possibly losing the greatest thing that ever happened to him. He decides to run in the same marathon in which Whitt is racing in less than a month and proceeds to try and whip himself into shape with limited time to train. This develops into some funny training scenes, but really, it starts to develop Doyle's confidence as he finds himself capable of doing more and more as he trains.

That's really the neat trick in this film. It looks like a bit of a bawdy gross out comedy at the beginning, but by the end it's really a heartwarming, feel-good film with a subtle but powerful message about achieving more.

Finally, let's take one moment and talk about my favorite moment in the entire film. The "wall" moment in the big race. There's an instant during the race where Doyle has literally gone as far as he can physically go. He has nothing left, and what was a sprint several hours ago has devolved into an agonized stumble on a sprained ankle. Just when Doyle thinks he can't go an inch further, when he's actually hallucinating a wall directly in front of him, one brick slides out, and a person that has suddenly and recently started to mean so much to Doyle is on the other side, urging him forward. It's simply yet superbly done, and it's such a powerful moment for what seems like a throwaway film.

Run Fat Boy Run is a weird film. t starts out unlikable, but by the time it winds up you love it. IThe characters grow on you and are memorable. The hero is realistic and relatable. The villain is a guy you've probably met as well, and his big moment of villainy involves him tripping someone. This is the rare film that is completely within the realm of probability for you or I. Nothing happens here that couldn't be replicated by 99% of the people that are reading this review. That's really what makes this film so likable because it's subtly inspiring as well as entertaining.

I'm actually planning on picking a copy of this film up for my permanent collection as soon as possible. And when I endorse a film with my wallet, it's a pretty good sign that you should too.