Run, Fat Boy, Run

(from really uncomfortable social messages)

So I saw "Run, Fat Boy, Run!" last night.
Now this got kind of a drubbing while back at the box-office.
Sure it was going to have a very hard time comparing to Simon Pegg's previous 2 outings - the amazing "Shaun of the Dead", or the slightly less fabulous but still brilliant "Hot Fuzz".

But it’s not bad.

This movie was marketed as a comedy.
It's not.
Sure, there are comedic moments.
But what the movie is; is the story of a man picking up the pieces of a not-so-great-life and giving it one last shot at redemption.
(Yes, I found its core message resonated in a powerful way, but more on this in a moment.)
The thing is, that story/message is something that makes us Men uncomfortable.

Sure, there are huge sections of the DVD store devoted to selling this kind of movie to chicks. The ‘coming of middle-age’ story that's seen in "Thelma & Louise", "Riding in Cars with Boys", "Fried Green Tomatoes" and even "Erin Brokovitch".

But then, women have always been allowed to talk about there feelings.

Meanwhile for guys, well, we don't.
There are even several scenes in the movie that show this. While Thelma and Louise might express their feelings by getting a little weepy-eyed before hugging it out, Dennis (Simon Pegg), and his best friend yell at one another a bit before getting into a fight (a friendly, bonding-type of fisticuffs).

From an early age we're exposed to Boy's-Own heroes such as James Bond, who can run, fight, drive and well, just about do anything, better than the next guy.
We are told we're the Alpha-Males, the inheritors of the earth.
The truth is that we are one amongst many, and that even when we are the biggest of our little pack, there are much bigger packs out there.
(And, at some point realise that in fact we are that "next-guy")
But that's why James Bond is fictional.

Yep, it's a hard truth to swallow (or even acknowledge).
But "Run Fat boy Run"s core story; "Big loser who's never really succeeded at anything, seeks redemption/second-chance" is something that any post-25 year old male feels, or has at least experienced more than once.
Yes, even if we've found great success in one particular area, the knowledge that we not successful at Everything (just like James Bond) will still be there, eating away at us.

That's really the right of passage into manhood in a lot of ways, that realisation that we are not the best, perhaps not even close.

Just don't expect us men to be honest about it if you ask us.