 Schwimmer made his directorial feature debut in the 2007 British comedy film Run Fatboy Run . The film stars Simon Pegg as a man who signs up for a marathon ( he is out of shape ) to convince his former fiancée and five @-@ year @-@ old son that he has turned his life around . When asked why he decided to direct the film , Schwimmer said : " As a director , I was struck by the challenge that I thought the script presented , which was that it was kind of three films in one . You had some great , big physical comedy , and I thought funny dialogue and characters . And then there was some real emotion to it with the relationship between the father and the son and the romance aspect " . Run Fatboy Run garnered mixed reception , with the New York Daily News rating it one @-@ and @-@ a @-@ half out of five stars and writing , " Most disappointing is how Schwimmer — who spent 10 seasons on a sitcom filled with hyperverbal characters — manages to bumble ' Fatboy 's ' tender moments " . USA Today , however , was favorable towards Schwimmer , reporting he possesses filmmaking finesse " having wisely chosen strong comic material for his debut behind the camera " . For his directorial work , he was nominated for a British Independent Film Award in the category of Best Debut Director . 
