Run, Fatboy, Run

Regret.

It's something I've learned to live with, and a tool I've learned to use during my lifetime to, I hope, help me become a better person. Some folks brag about never living with regret: they live their lives as they want, pay little attention to how they effect other people (or how others effect them) and start each new day with a slate free of angst.

I used to envy those people. During much of my life I hoped to become like them. Learn the skills needed to disregard others. Hit the pillow each night without the worry that my actions caused someone distress. Sleep soundly with the knowledge that I did the day my way, and the belief that if someone didn't like it, they could take a flying leap.

But, that's just not me.

I'm more like Dennis Doyle, the character played by Simon Pegg in Run, Fatboy, Run. Co-written by Pegg and Michale Ian Black, Fatboy is a movie about learning from and overcoming regret. After deciding to leave his pregnant girlfriend at the alter, Doyle barely eeks out an existence during the next five years of his life. He regrets his rash decision, but is unsure how to remedy it. Run, Fatboy, Run tells the tale of how Doyle figures out that he can use the regret to become a better person. A person he can respect, and one his former girlfriend can find love for, again.

Fatboy is a funny movie that feels like a British / American hybrid. It's sensible and romantic, with a couple of fart jokes thrown in for good measure. It's predictable, but well acted. Pegg--who many will remember from Shawn Of The Dead and Hot Fuzz--really carries the lead well, and is successful in getting the audience to root for him.

I did.

Doyle is an easy character to root for, with a likable personality and a sarcastic edge. Some will find the movie too sentimental. But I liked the movie despite that, for it's message and the terrific work of the actors.