"Friends" alum David Schwimmer makes an admirable directorial debut with this lightweight, mildly affecting comedy. Simon Pegg takes grander, equally impressive strides toward leading man status here as the disheveled and despondent Dennis, a loving father still mourning his cowardly retreat from the altar one year and secretly hoping to reunite with his son's charming mother, Libby (Thandie Newton). Throwing a wrench into his plans is Whit (Hank Azaria), Libby's new exceedingly perfect boyfriend with a remarkably successful job and side passion for running marathons in the name of worthwhile charities. As Whit sews himself more deeply into the lives of Dennis' family, he grows increasingly more motivated to make a change and win them back. He vows to run in the upcoming marathon Whit is competing in and prove, once and for all, that he does have the will and determination to actually finish something in his life.The film builds stably up from its initial conceit. The humor can often be nothing more than pure sophomoric farce, but the characters, played warmly and realistically by the superb cast, never get dragged down into the gutters with the pranks and pratfalls. Most of the jokes fall into the Farrelly Brother-esque categories of physical grotesqueness and sideshow freakishness. Gags involve tumor sized blisters and the icky fluids they secrete, uncomfortable locker room moments, a thuggish gambling ring, and bra stealing transvestites. Through the weathering storm of bad taste, though, emerges a well realized character, or set of characters really. I give key credit to the actors here. Dennis could have been a one-note Adam Sandler type deadbeat but in Pegg's hands he's a conflicted underdog with subtle strengths. The same can be said for Azaria whose pretty boy know it all character could have easily been given a shallow treatment of pompous elitism but instead squirms through scenes with the believable discomfort of a competitive man with a perhaps too aggressively ambitious nature. Also due praise is Newton, an oft unregarded actress confined in mostly supporting roles until now. Her Libby is neither a demure wallflower or a scathing bitch. She's simply deciding, quite understandably, between a cold but reliably perfect existence and the chance she could take with Dennis in what could be a disastrous reunion but just might turn out to be the path toward bliss.
Solid performances and sturdy direction help anchor the tone-hopping, occasionally juvenile screenplay by Pegg and Michael Ian Black. However outlandish the story may become, there remains some thread of credibility, making the characters feel tangibly alive in ways other gross out jokesters never come near. Still, it's a mixed bag of cheap tricks, fun moments, and sentimental melodrama. At its best, it's a real charmer, but elsewhere it fizzles and dies.
Grade: B-
