'Run Fat Boy Run'

Rating:

BY GENE SEYMOUR | gene.seymour@newsday.com

March 28, 2008

Sometimes, Simon Pegg betrays too much suppleness, physically and otherwise, to convince you that he's packing a paunch as Dennis the lovelorn, chain-smoking slacker in "Run Fat Boy Run." But he's such a good actor that he makes you believe anything - anything, that is, except the notion that any sentient male Earthling, no matter how stupid or scared, could leave a pregnant woman looking like Thandie Newton standing at the altar.

This happens at the beginning of the movie, firmly establishing Dennis as being too pathetic to deserve even his rent-a-cop gig in a London lingerie shop. He's still pining for Libby (Newton) and enjoying his bonding weekends with their 5-year-old son. But there's another man in Libby's life: A Type-A, buffed-up American sharpie named Whit (Hank Azaria), who's primed to seal the deal with Libby that Dennis abandoned - right after he competes in the city's biggest marathon. To everyone's surprise, including his, Dennis says he's also running in the marathon, even though he can barely trot across the street without hacking.

Snarkiness and sentiment are in constant battle for supremacy throughout "Run Fat Boy Run" with no chance of a comfortable draw. Maybe that's because David Schwimmer (yes, boys and girls, the same guy who played Ross on "Friends") makes his directorial debut with this script by Pegg and Michael Ian Black, who among other things has been a snide talking head on those "I Love the '70s/'80s/ '90s" VH1 shows. Despite an all-out effort by an appealing cast (with props to Dylan Moran, hilarious as Dennis' lowlife best buddy), the movie hits the proverbial wall toward the end through needless overexertion of its sentimental side.

Pegg, however, still rocks as a comedic presence, able to juggle groggy and goofy mood swings without losing his grounding in credible human behavior. And Schwimmer shows just enough promise behind the camera to deserve another chance. Couldn't he try again within the tri-state area, though?

RUN FAT BOY RUN (PG-13). "Shaun of the Dead's" Simon Pegg is a chronic screw-up who takes up long-distance running to show up the smarmy suitor ( Hank Azaria) of his ex-fiancee ( Thandie Newton). Pegg and the rest of the cast are charming. But the story gets both windy and winded. Directed by "Friends'" David Schwimmer from a script by Pegg and Michael Ian Black. 1:37 (vulgarities, racy humor, nudity, chain smoking). At area theaters.