Although I did enjoy the incongruity of the characters, this well-intentioned low brow co-production does not quite make it to the finish line.
Comment
03/01/08
Run, Fat Boy, Run (2008)
48
%
Tomatometer
How does the Tomatometer work 
Reviews Counted:143
Fresh:69
Rotten:74
Average Rating:5.5/10
Consensus: Run, Fat Boy, Run features sporadic laughs, but is ultimately too formulaic and predictable.
Australian Theatrical Release:
Mar 6, 2008 Wide
US Box Office: $5,926,110
Synopsis: DENNIS (Simon Pegg) is an ordinary guy. He's a little overweight and he smokes, but he's nice, charming and unassuming. However, five years ago, Dennis did something that wasn't so nice. On his... [More]
Starring: Simon Pegg, Thandie Newton, Dylan Moran, Hank Azaria
Director: David Schwimmer
Reviews for Run, Fat Boy, Run
1 - 20 (sorted by rotten rating; Australian critics are listed first)
Top CriticThis is an amiable film that will provoke some chuckles.
03/19/08
Top CriticRun, Fatboy, Run winds up being as immature and exhausting as its protagonist.
05/01/08
Schwimmer's sliced cheese mediocrity gets him off the hook; not so for the usually inventive Pegg and Black and their arms race of bland jokes and cheap male nudity
03/31/08
It’s hard to dislike Simon Pegg, but in Run Fat Boy Run, he exhausts our sympathy in the prologue.
03/27/08
For all its faults however, this is a romantic comedy that works - if just barely.
03/28/08
The material isn't any more inspired than the protagonist is inspiring. Run, Fat Boy, Run should have been whipped into better shape before the starting gun sounded.
03/28/08
It would have been funnier if, instead of Pegg, his frequent collaborator, Nick Frost had taken the role. Then we would have a film worthy of its name. And maybe even a few more genuine guffaws.
03/28/08
A near-miss, a film with some funny scenes that will probably work significantly better on DVD, but, ultimately, it quite simply doesn't have enough laughs to elevate it to greatness.
03/28/08
It's as if [director David] Schwimmer managed to shoot himself in his foot with the starter's pistol.
01/18/08
ends up feeling like a boring limerick told over and over again.
03/27/08
"Run, Fat Boy, Run" is a cut-and-dried formula comedy slightly elevated by its more than competent cast.
03/23/08
It runs out of steam - and you'll likely run out of interest - long before the finish line.
03/27/08
I wouldn’t believe that Run Fat Boy Run was co-written by Simon Pegg if he weren’t up there on the screen in teeny briefs and with his gut stuck out, trying to endear himself to the American audience in material maybe a notch above Rob Schneider’s.
03/24/08
You’ll laugh a bit, but not much, while your interest in the storyline will hover between mild interest and vague indifference. Needless to say, all memories of this movie will evaporate on contact with daylight.
09/07/07
...a mess of sentimental cliches...
09/17/07
There are no surprises here -- just broad, frequently slapstick gags that don't avoid but do tamp down a bit on the bodily-function school of yokkery.
09/11/07
Top CriticRun Fat Boy Run is hard to love, thanks to the tedious romantic-comedy cliches to which it subjects its characters -- and us.
03/27/08
Top CriticPleasant but unfocused, a romantic farce, trying very hard to be sweet when it needs to be a bit more cheeky.
03/28/08
Amiable. Bland. Cute. Formulaic. Inconsequential. Run Fatboy Run goes down with ease, but it's awfully slight.
03/29/08
Latest News for Run, Fat Boy, Run
September 24, 2008:
The film, like its flabby aspiring marathon runner protagonist, feels shapeless and exhausted from the sheer effort of trying to please audiences. 
More...
August 15, 2008:
CinWorld: The film, like its flabby aspiring marathon runner protagonist, feels shapeless and exhausted from the sheer effort of trying to please audiences.
More...
March 30, 2008:
New Feature Alert! The RT Review Revue, A Weekly Video Round-up
Live from the RT offices...it's the RT Review Revue! Check out the latest word on this week's new releases in the first installment of our new editorial video column. More...
March 27, 2008:
Box Office Guru Preview: Four New Players Join The Game
Four new releases take a gamble debuting in theaters across North America hoping to hit the jackpot with audiences. The blackjack drama 21 and the spoof comedy Superhero Movie... More...
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