Schwimmer directs a fun outing about a likeable loser, Dennis (Pegg), trying to regain the love of his lost fianc((eacute))e, Libby (Newton) whom he left at the altar five years ago. Dennis is on good terms with Libby but she's seeing hot-shot, high-flier Whit (Azaria). So to win back the girl he determines to beat Whit in a marathon. Unfortunately he's really, REALLY out of shape. In come his two trainers, his landlord (Patel) and his best friend (Moran), who are neither qualified, nor helpful, but both very enthusiastic.

Pegg comes across as a comical everyman and we barrack for him despite his opening vanishing act. Patel and Moran are hilarious and Moran pretty much steals every scene he's in. Schwimmer generates big laughs from many sources and has a knack for comic timing. It's an enjoyable, well written comedy that packs in a lot of laughs along the way. See this one, you'll thank me in the long run. Get it, long run... marathon... hmmm, luckily the film is a lot funnier than this review.

After returning home from World War I, James Allen (Muni), hopes to become an engineer but can only find work in a shoe factory. Allen quits his job and becomes a penniless vagabond. After he witnesses another man commit a crime, he is wrongly committed to ten years on a chain gang in an unnamed Southern state, where he experiences sadistic treatment at the hands of the guards. Escaping to Chicago he starts a new life, and finds work in the booming construction industry, but his girlfriend discovers his past and threatens to expose him if he does not marry her.

This movie made history by exposing the brutality of the chain gang system in Georgia and bringing about its collapse. It was based on the true story of Robert E. Burns who was still a fugitive at the time of the film's production, and who acted as advisor on the film. Warner Brothers took a major chance with the controversial subject matter, as social commentary was not handled much by Hollywood at the time, and it paid off both critically and financially.