Got to hand it to David Schwimmer.  Star of the biggest sitcom in the history of ever the man has remarkably little ego and enough good sense to not let his own past overshadow his fresh stab at directing, Run, Fatboy, Run.  Man's even got the good sense to simply get out of star Simon Pegg's way and simply do everything Pegg tells him to. Good man, Schwim. Near as I can tell all the good stuff in Fat Boy comes directly from Pegg himself while all the weak bits are the remnants of a pretty bland and cliche-ridden original script by Michael Ian Black that Pegg was brought in to "Britishize" in the late stages.  But more on that later ...

Pegg - AKA Tim from the brilliant Spaced,  AKA the titular Shaun of the Dead, soon to be AKA Scotty in JJ Abrams' Star Trek flick - stars as Dennis, a rather pathetic little failure of a man who blew his one shot at happiness five years previous when he fled in a blind panic from his own wedding, leaving his pregnant fiance at the alter.  Now he can't get over her - not hard to believe when your fiance looks like Thandie Newton because, well, she is - and he works a shitty job as a lingerie store security guard while living in a shitty basement flat.  Making things worse the lady's got a new man.  A new, wealthy, attractive man.  A new, wealthy, attractive man who runs marathons for charity and in a blind fit of madness, hoping to prove his own virility, Dennis swears he will run in an upcoming charity marathon as well, never mind that the race is just three weeks away and he's horribly out of shape.

And there you have it.  That's it for story.  Everything you think is going to happen does.  Nothing you don't think will happen jumps out to surprise you.  It's just that sort of film.   But some paunchy, cliche rich moments aside - the end of the marathon is way overdone - Fatboy actually works quite well.  Schwimmer deserves some of the credit.  He's a smart enough director and clearly loves and respects his performers, plus anybody who can get a believable performance out of the frequently horrible Thandie Newton clearly has something going on.  God knows that girl hasn't been landing roles based on talent.  Mostly, though, this thing works because of Pegg.  Specifically it works because Pegg is a much better actor, with more depth to him, than he is often given credit for and while this is still pure formula fluff he brings some much needed humanity to it.  And also it works because Pegg brought a long a secret weapon in the form of his good friend, Irish stand up comic Dylan Moran.

We pause now for a wee trip to Ireland.  Moran is a huge star throughout the UK but just barely known on these shores.  In fact, I'd wager good money that if you know of him at all it's only because he played Pegg's neurotic foil David in Shaun of the Dead , but if that's all the Moran you know then you don't know Moran at all.  The man is a half mad, three quarters drunk, shambolic genius.  He's got a killer, albeit small, part in Winterbottom's Tristram Shandy  - which not nearly enough people saw - but for the full on Moran effect you need to head to the world of Brit TV and pick up his leading work in Black Books and How Do You Want Me.

Moran's Fat Boy bit as Dennis' chronically drunk, two bit gambler best friend Gordon was clearly written by Pegg specifically to suit his friend's screen persona and every single moment these two are one screen together is pure comic gold.  The rapport is so natural, so comfortable, Moran's wit so sharp, that you can't help but wish at least one of the film's other subplots was dropped entirely - goodbye upstairs neighbors! - to simply give this relationship a bit more screen time.  I'd say Moran steals every scene that he's in if not for the fact that Pegg is right there beside his friend, gleefully setting up every joke and you can't really steal something that's being given to you, now can you?

Pegg's gone on record saying that he did Fat Boy at least in part to prove that he can work apart from his regular compatriots Edgar Wright and Nick Frost.  And while Fat Boy as a total package certainly doesn't hit the heights that his work with those two has hit it aint half bad for what it is.  Formulaic, absolutely, but the formula's got some legs when backed up by good people and there are a load of good people in there.

As a little side note, beyond Moran it's kind of fun to play spot-the-Brit-TV-star with this one ... fairly certain I spotted at least one other secondary player from Spaced in there, Stephen Merchant - co-creator of Extras and The Office with Ricky Gervais - has a bit part, Peter Serafinowicz - another Spaced and Shaun alum, Moran's costar in How Do You Want Me and also the voice of Darth Maul - has a brilliant bit as a TV commentator in the late going, and Little Britain's David Walliams basically channels one of his TV characters for one extended scene.  Nice.