It\'s said that romantic comedy is the most predictable out of all the movie genres. I do believe this is true, but I don't think this is born out of a creative rut, but rather somewhat of a necessity. The fact is, they function primarily as a date movie first and a lasting work to remember second. There are certain beats required to hit to fulfill that "date movie" criteria, i.e. the moments where the movie has to make the couples who are in attendance want the two people on screen to get together, and when they do get together, the couple watching would feel like their relationship has—somehow—been validated.
Oh, and of course, it has to be funny.
But does that mean all romantic comedies are soulless and formulaic? Not necessarily. The trick is to meet all those necessary beats that we all know and expect, but fill the spaces between with wit and freshness. This is what many romantic comedies that crowd the market often fail to do. Or, lately, we see a trend in comedies "raunching it up" to make up for the lack of creativity in the stories (No offense, Judd Apatow).
Run, Fatboy, Run walks and talks like your typical romantic comedy, but it starts a little later in the game. There's no cute meet and there's no catty run-arounds. Dennis (Simon Pegg) is already in love with Libby (Thandie Newton) when the movie begins, but spends the entire movie regretting that he lost her to her new boyfriend Whit (Hank Azaria). Dennis ran away from his wedding day five years ago and left Libby at the altar pregnant with their child. What saves Dennis from being an outright bastard is the fact that he is so caring towards his now five-year-old son Jake (Matthew Fenton). It's also a testament to the script and to Simon Pegg's natural charm that his lazy, uncommitted and slightly overweight character can actually gain our support. Maybe because Pegg co-wrote the screenplay himself, and he knows what his own comic strengths are. The fake belly that they gave him, though, is about as unconvincing as they come, since the rest of Pegg's body is still looking fit from Hot Fuzz.
This is certainly a very predictable story with predictable characters (the likable loser, the sidekick, the perfect-but-might-be-secretly-evil competition, and the angelic girl). It also has a preposterous plot: it concerns a chubby guy who has to prove to the girl he loves that he's better than her perfect boyfriend by running a marathon. Good thing that the movie actually addresses this faulty logic. Seeing the situation develops and how Dennis manages to overcome anyway is what's fun about the movie. During the marathon part, the crowd I saw the movie with actually broke into cheers to support him.
This date movie obviously skews further to the guy's tastes, since Libby's character is not only scarce (kudos to Thandie for injecting some emotion into her) but also conveniently adheres to the plot. We only ever see her when she's flip-flopping between the two men. It's intentional, though, because the movie is really about learning commitment; and that has always been stereotypically a "guy" problem.
Perhaps unusually, in this one the guy interacts with the other guy more than the girl. So Simon Pegg and Hank Azaria are really the two leads that carry the movie, elevating the mostly predictable jokes with their perfect comic deliveries. Even a lame "falling down" slapstick gag can be hilarious when performed by Simon Pegg. With that said, the real scene-stealer—the absolute gem of the movie—is Pegg's Shaun of the Dead co-star Dylan Moran as Gordon, Dennis' best friend and Libby's cousin. Moran fills the best friend comic relief role so well, a lout reminiscence of his Black Books character Bernard Black. When asked why anyone would buy theater tickets from a day before, Moran deadpans "Time travel" flawlessly. The banter between these two is the highlight of the film, even more so than the one with Azaria.
For what it is, the movie executes very well. Despite working within genre boundaries, Run, Fatboy, Run actually succeeds where others fail. Perhaps for that alone it should be honored as the best date movie in a long time. Certainly the best comedy of the year—so far, anyway.
"Run, Fatboy, Run" opens March 28, 2008 and is rated PG13. Comedy, Romance. Directed by David Schwimmer. Written by Michael Ian Black, Simon Pegg. Starring Simon Pegg, Hank Azaria, Thandie Newton, Ameet Chana, Dylan Moran.
