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(About Our Ads) "RUN FAT BOY RUN" (2008) (Simon Pegg, Thandie Newton) (PG-13) If you've come from our parental review of this film and wish to return to it, simply click on your browser's BACK button. Otherwise, use the following link to read our complete Parental Review of this film. QUICK TAKE: Comedy: An unfit security guard trains to run in a marathon in hopes that doing so might win over his ex-girlfriend who he ran away from, pregnant with his child, years ago on their wedding day. PLOT: It's been five years since Dennis (SIMON PEGG) , suffering from cold feet and a fear of long-term commitment, ran away from his pregnant fiancée, Libby (THANDIE NEWTON), on their wedding day. He's now employed as a security guard at a lingerie store, while she works at a bakery when not raising their son, Jake (MATTHEW FENTON). Since she allows him to see their boy, Dennis harbors hopes that Libby might forgive and let him back into her life. Yet, she's now dating hedge fund manager Whit (HANK AZARIA) and seems quite happy with him. Besides, Dennis is late with his rent to Maya (INDIA DE BEAUFORT), the adult daughter of his landlord, Mr. Ghoshdashtidar (HARISH PATEL), while his best friend, Gordon (DYLAN MORAN), is a gambling addict, none of which would likely impress Libby. Instead, she likes that Whit follows up and completes anything he commits to, such as running a marathon for charity. Learning of this, Dennis decides he'll do the same. Unfortunately for him, Dennis has never undertaken such a quest, particularly since he's anything but fit. Nevertheless, he starts training, hoping that Libby will take notice and have a change of heart. OUR TAKE: 4 out of 10 With a title such as "Run Fat Boy Run," it isn't hard to imagine this comedy could be a companion piece or even sequel to "Drillbit Taylor" (although with the latter having just been released theatrically, that would have been quite the feat in terms of timing). After all, the doubly issued verbal command along with the obvious body type based putdown certainly conjures up the image of bullying. That's .no doubt helped by sounding quite similar to "Run, Forrest, Run" from that little "Gump" movie a few years back that had the title character fleeing from mean kids. But this pic -- that feels like a glorified sitcom, obviously thanks in part to newbie director David Schwimmer's main claim to fame -- is more about the physical activity than in the actions of some insolent person (although some of that is present and develops, conveniently and artificially so, in the second half). You see, Dennis (Simon Pegg) is terrified of commitment and thus leaves his pregnant bride-to-be (Thandie Newton) standing at the altar (or just outside it, but it's close enough to count) as he flees off into the distance, thus doing a gender flip on the old "runaway bride" syndrome. Five years later, Dennis is still running, but this time it's after a woman, or at least a guy dressed up as one who's lifted some product from the lingerie shop where the bachelor now works as a security guard. But what he's really chasing is a chance to get back into Libby's life. She's obviously against that (due to the "once burned" scar she still psychologically wears), but does let him see their son (a cute Matthew Fenton). Besides, she's hot and heavy with hedge fund manager Whit (Hank Azaria) whose professionalism and success only makes Dennis look that much worse in terms of potential husband material. To mix metaphors, she thinks that particular ship has sailed, but he hopes he's still in the race. Thus, when he learns that Whit is running in a marathon for charity, Dennis thinks doing the same might impress Libby. The only problem is he's never completed anything in his life and certainly isn't in shape for such an arduous physical challenge. In a way, Dennis is a kissin' cousin to Schwimmer's character on the once long-running sitcom "Friends" -- that being the lovable loser type. Yet, the character and story seemingly beg for a black comedy treatment rather than the fluffy and manufactured sitcom one that weighs down the comedy and never lets it hit its stride or get up to full speed. Pegg certainly gives it a go, but fans of his work in "Shaun of the Dead" and "Hot Fuzz" will likely be disappointed that he's nowhere as brilliant here, mainly due to the material with which me must work. Newton gets the "straight man" role in this mediocre comedy and really can't do much with the part, while Azaria is saddled with his character suddenly but predictably devolving into a scheming and conniving jerk. Dylan Moran (as Dennis' gambling addicted friend who's occasionally prone to chatting with others sans pants) and Harish Patel (as the protag's landlord in a performance that's mostly stereotype from a cultural perspective) are present in an effort to pad the otherwise straightforward and fairly simply story, but only manage a few decent laughs here and there. Filled with sitcom style characters, laughs and an overall related mentality, "Run Fat Boy Run" tries to deliver the comedic goods. Yet, rather than sprinting off in some new or fun direction, it just keeps circling the same track to the point of dizzying redundancy. Not horrible but far from good, it makes me want to say "Run, don't walk...to see something else." It rates as a 4 out of 10. Reviewed March 4, 2008 / Posted March 28, 2008