Run Fatboy Run (2007)

Women's clothing store security guard, Dennis Doyle (Simon Pegg) left his pregnant girlfriend, Libby (Thandie Newton) at the altar five years earlier. Doyle is a loser who wishes he could get another shot at Libby. It's not until he meets her new boyfriend, Wytt (Hank Azaria) that he realizes that he might not have any more chance at getting together with her.
In a move of jealousy driven bravado, Doyle matches Wytt's claim that he can run a marathon and in fact will run in the upcoming marathon which Wytt is training for.
No one believes that Doyle can do it, except for his best friend Gordon (Dylan Moran) and his landlord (Haresh Patel). The two believe in him even when he has given up on himself.
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I really wanted to love this film. I go out of my way to watch Simon Pegg - I've been a big fan since Spaced. And with his buddy being played by Dylan Moran, whom I've been a fan of since Black Books, I thought this would be an even better than usual film. Did I mention that I am usually entertained by Hank Azaria, with Simpson aside, I love as the Blue Raja in Mystery Men? But this film never really found it's footing, couldn't keep up the pace, got winded - insert your own running pun of choice.
The film had funny moments, but it was cliched and not very consistently paced, not to mention it was a bit schizophrenic as to which type of film it was going to be - light romantic comedy, buddy film, touching family comedy, morale-driven comedy. Did I mention that the script was cliched? You know how this film is going to turn out as soon as they are done with the setup, maybe even before them. That's okay in a comedy, but I shouldn't be able to predict the lines, and I definitely shouldn't be able to predict when Moran is going to appear pantless in a scene.
To be absolutely frank, Azaria was phoning in a lot of this lines, and there were a couple of scenes where Pegg and Moran did the same. When that happens in a film, the only person to blame is the director, which in this case is first-time David Schwimmer, better known as an actor. In my opinion, it would have been better with Schwimmer and Azaria switching roles - not because I like Schwimmer better than Azaria, au contraire - I think Azaria could have been a better director, and then when the American runner character turns out to be a real dick, I would buy that better from Schwimmer.
The bright spot in this film is Thandie Newton. She's consistently on as the straight / love interest / object of desire. The kid, Jake, played by Matthew Fentox was pretty good to, and worked well with both Newton and Pegg.
My advice? Watch the opening flashback sequence and then fast forward between Pegg and Moran's antics. Or better yet, pull out your copy of Shaun of the Dead and watch that instead.