Metascore
48 out of 100

Mixed or average reviews - based on 27 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 7 out of 27
  2. Negative: 4 out of 27
  1. Filled with moments that will make you smile.
  2. Reviewed by: Claudia Puig
    75
    Amiable, consistently amusing and surprisingly affecting, it has the flavor of a Nick Hornby novel, with its focus on an overgrown boy struggling to grow up and be a man.
  3. Reviewed by: Zack Haddad
    70
    Schwimmer impresses with this film.
  4. Reviewed by: Jim Ridley
    70
    Pegg has staked out a peculiar slant on genre material that ventures beyond irony toward rehabilitation--and nobody plays blithe humiliation with more style.
  5. Reviewed by: Dennis Harvey
    70
    David Schwimmer's first bigscreen directing effort reveals something very different: a thoroughly competent mainstream craftsman who imposes no individual character on formulaic material.
  6. 63
    Run, Fat Boy, Run stays out of sitcom quicksand long enough to make you think that Schwimmer has a knack for this comedy-directing thing.
  7. 63
    Suggestion: When making a film called Run Fat Boy Run, how about hiring a fat boy?
  8. Reviewed by: John DeFore
    60
    The pic benefits from a loveable-loser turn by Simon Pegg, but the "Shaun of the Dead" star's presence may also lead to disappointment for those familiar with his work.
  9. 60
    If you can get past its toothpick of a premise, Run Fatboy Run is a perfectly enjoyable light comedy. It's also just good enough that I wanted it be better.
  10. Reviewed by: Matt Zoller Seitz
    60
    The kind of movie that's apt to be dismissed a goofy lark. It is that. But it's also a rare comedy that believes in its own message, and that could inspire the depressed and the demoralized to grit their teeth and keep running.
  11. The humor tends toward the mildly crass -- bare buttocks and inappropriate scratching are Schwimmer's go-to comedy staples -- and the story is ridiculous. But Pegg, who co-wrote the script, plays to his strengths. You can't help but root for the loser.
  12. 58
    Fatboy nearly succeeds in spite of itself, thanks to Pegg, who makes a character who does some detestable things seem strangely likeable.
  13. Simon Pegg, of "Shaun of the Dead" and "Hot Fuzz," is onscreen almost constantly in Run Fatboy Run, and his mugging and smirking and preening wear out their welcome fast.
  14. One of the problems with the new comedy Run, Fat Boy, Run is that it's not English enough, even though its antagonist is a thoroughly detestable American go-getter.
  15. 50
    The film's bright spot is Irish comedian Dylan Moran, who plays Libby's charmingly dissolute cousin and who also happens to be Dennis' best friend. He's fresh, unpredictable and genuinely funny -- everything the film isn't.
  16. 50
    The result is tepid humor and a less-than-compelling feel-good story of redemption and re-kindled romance.
  17. Reviewed by: Kamal AL-Solaylee
    50
    Its peculiar strain of anti-Americanism aside, Run, Fat Boy, Run tries to bridge the gap between self-deprecating Brits and self-aggrandizing Yanks, settling down somewhere between the two. Don't ask me where, exactly, but this mid-Atlantic meeting point is an ultra-neutral zone.
  18. It lacks the invention of Pegg's comedies with Edgar Wright, which buzz and crackle with ideas and energy. This one simply plods through, just like Dennis. Only Pegg's doggedness gets this effort across the finish line.
  19. I wouldn't believe that Run, Fat Boy, Run was co-written by Simon Pegg (of Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz) if he weren't up there on the screen in teeny briefs and with his gut stuck out, trying to endear himself to the American audience in material maybe a notch above Rob Schneider's.
  20. Snarkiness and sentiment are in constant battle for supremacy throughout Run, Fat Boy, Run with no chance of a comfortable draw.
  21. This British rom-com is all soft and plodgy, a by-the-numbers redemption tale that careens uncomfortably from sentimentality to stomach-turning sight gags.
  22. Rather like the faltering way Dennis runs the race, Pegg the performer insists that we keep watching, ever hopeful for a decent gag. And we spend most of our time thinking back to movies that better showcased his talents, such as "Shaun of the Dead" and "Hot Fuzz."
  23. 40
    Dylan Moran has a few funny moments as Pegg's shiftless pal, and Mike Leigh regular Ruth Sheen puts in an all-too-brief appearance.
  24. Reviewed by: Joe Neumaier
    38
    Every ounce of comedy is so forced and full-on ridiculous that when characters express even a smidgen of sentiment, it feels like a parody. That's because nothing in "Fatboy" feels real.
  25. Reviewed by: Glenn Kenny
    38
    The heretofore nothing-but-delightful Simon Pegg stumbles in the long-anticipated feature film directorial debut of -- ta-da! -- David Schwimmer, who takes the sow's ear of a script given him by Pegg and Michael Ian Black and deep-fries it into a burnt pork rind of a movie.
  26. 25
    Might as well have been written by a rushed piece of software. The program calls for a surprise engagement, a street fight complete with crotch punches, an apartment eviction, and a runaway child - all in about five minutes. As an obstacle course, this is mighty efficient. As comic storytelling, it's painful, not too far from being socked in the crotch.
  27. Simon Pegg has what it takes, but he's saddled himself with a script (co-written by Pegg and Michael Ian Black) that Adam Sandler wouldn't have pulled out of his bottom drawer.
User Score

Generally favorable reviews- based on 37 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 18 out of 24
  2. Negative: 4 out of 24
  1. Not funny, not inspirational, not convincing, not entertaining, not memorable... actually it's not much of anything.
  2. 4
    Oh, no. Oh dear. If only this could have been better. It's a kind of funny premise, and Hank Azaria is funny. Oh well; I'm looking forward to At World's End. Full Review »
  3. Run, fatboy,Run is entertainment. It has a perfect balance of humor, grossout gags and a big heart.What more do you want?It is a film where beneath all the idiocy and goofiness lies a film that has a lesson to it and humor, which most movies don't possess Full Review »