Stealth Entertainment: Run Fat Boy Run

By Scott Lumley

December 11, 2008

Work it you sexy beast!

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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?




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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.


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