Run Fatboy Run
At first, I thought Run Fatboy Run would be a documentary of my college football career -- and all the splinters that came with it -- with coach Matt May (a nice guy otherwise...maybe) breaking clipboards over my helmet while assistant coach Frank Diskin, who was missing a finger, kicked me in the butt. I always had a finger to loan him.
Anyway, it isn't and I'm glad because the emotional wounds still haven't healed.
The only surprise about Run Fatboy Run is a stunner: How did two of the least funny, most off-putting television stars create such a buoyant romantic comedy?
I never liked David Schwimmer – the mouth-breathing “Ross” on Friends -- but at least he kept Jennifer Aniston close by. I never laughed at Michael Ian Black’s snarky comments on VH1 clip shows, or understood why his comedy troupe Stella deserved any gigs.
Schwimmer and Black are among my best reasons to keep the remote control handy since they can’t possibly be on every channel. Run Fatboy Run operates as if someone’s using their names for pseudonyms.
Schwimmer, Black and co-writer/star Simon Pegg (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz) don’t re-invent the wheel of romantic comedy but keep it rolling smoothly, tweaking the genre ever so slightly. We know what to expect yet there are often nice surprises.
Read the full review next Thursday in Weekend. Meanwhile, I'm gonna cry into my undeserved letterman's jacket.
Steve Persall is the movie critic for the St. Petersburg Times. He was conceived behind a drive-in movie theater his father operated and raised in projection booths and concession stands. He doesn't care how you did it up north.
While I totally understand how the ubiquitous Michael Ian Black can grate, I have a soft spot for him because of his appearance on the underappreciated Comedy Central show "Viva Variety." He will always be Johnny Bluejeans to me.
Adored "Shaun of the Dead" -- this might move to Book a Babysitter status...
Posted by: jane | March 19, 2008 at 05:57 PM
I remember seeing the ads for VV and didn't feel like watching. Maybe I missed something. Wouldn't be the first time.
Have you seen Hot Fuzz? Not as funny as SotD but worth the time.
Posted by: Steve Persall | March 19, 2008 at 06:27 PM
You know, I haven't seen Hot Fuzz... I'll throw it onto the Netflix queue.
I found VV very funny -- but I'm a sucker for anything variety-show related, even a send-up program. As well as being a sucker anything with ridiculous accents. Which this had in spades.
Posted by: jane | March 19, 2008 at 07:36 PM
Jane, you MUST get "Hot Fuzz" in your Netflix queue immediately- I saw it at the end of December and absolutely loved it. (It also left me with a big messy crush on Simon Pegg...you'd think I'd grow out of that disorder at nearly 39.) I have "Shawn of the Dead" at home from Netflix right now and it holds a special place in my weekend plans.
Posted by: Sherrie | March 20, 2008 at 02:36 PM
A crush on Simon Pegg??? Princess Di prefers Hank Azaria, who has another Along Came Sally reveal in Fatboy.
Posted by: Princess Di | March 20, 2008 at 06:20 PM
If you want to see Black when he was funny, go back to an MTV show called "The State." That's where he and the rest of the Viva Variety/ Reno 911 cast got started and shined. He had a character that was a motivational speaker named Captain Monterey Jack that wasn't as funny as Chris Farley's Matt Foley, but was definitely better than his smug VH1 comments.
Posted by: Kennedy | March 20, 2008 at 09:01 PM
Jane-good use of ubiquitous; I thought Starbucks owned the trademark.
Posted by: Kennedy | March 20, 2008 at 09:03 PM