Review: Brittany Runs a Marathon

You can do it!

Brittany (Jillian Bell) is overweight and under-motivated. She decides she wants to change her life and start running. She has a supportive circle of running friends, Catherine (Michaela Watkins) and Seth. (Micah Stock) but nothing is that simple and Brittany still struggles.

I think Jillian Bell is really underrated. She's so consistently funny in every role she's in, so when I saw a trailer for this film I knew I was going to watch it for her. The film itself is based on director/writer Paul Downs Colaizzo's best friend and her running journey.

Bell of course is very funny. Not all of the jokes work, but most do and I found myself laughing quite a bit, but more than that she makes us feel for Brittany, who is mostly unsympathetic throughout the entire film. The supporting cast is also fantastic. Utkarsh Ambudkar playing Brittanys colleague/friend/fuck buddy/friend Jern was a stand out and they had excellent chemistry. Same goes for Watkins and Stock.

I love how real they made training for a marathon. A less attentive script maybe would've given her one set back and have her hit her goal weight right away, then run flawlessly. This really shows you the training and tolls it takes to run something like that and I appreciated the attention to deal. Unfortunately, the non-running parts of this movie are far less entertaining. It gets very trope-y. Brittany's best friend is an absolute bitch to the point where it's unbelievable that Brittany just now realized that. She also inevitably pushes her friends away at the beginning of the third act. Those parts bring the unique script down. I wish they had gone another route here.

Of course I cried because I'm an absolute baby but this was a very inspiring movie that will probably make you go out for a run yourself afterwards.

Recommended: Yes

Grade: B

Memorable Quote: "My name is Brittany, I'm going to take a shit-ney" - Brittany (Jillian Bell)