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) 

Comments

  1. YAY! I'm so glad you enjoyed this! This is one of my favorites of the year. I agree it gets a little conventional, but I kinda loved the relationship between Brittany and her roommate - it felt toxically co-dependent in a way that felt believable, and I LOVED Brittany's speech reaming her out for how she treats her. Bell is so fantastic and she's not gonna get any awards love for this and it makes me so sad.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh I know, she should at least get a comedy nom at the Globes. I'd love if that happened.

      Delete
  2. I want to see this as I do like Jillian Bell as I hope it comes on TV soon.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I legit got so confused at first - I thought YOU had ran a marathon and were going to tell us all about it!
    Now my head's on straight...this sounds like such a good movie!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. lol I don't think I could run anything past a 5K anymore but thank you for thinking I could

      Delete
  4. This sounds like a good movie and your review really makes me want to see it. It reminds me of a TV drama from the 1970's starring Joanne Woodward who wants to run in the Boston marathon

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Thanks for stopping by, let's talk movies!
(comments are moderated to reduce spam)

Popular posts from this blog

Review: The Batman

Thursday Movie Picks: Wedding Movies

Random Ramblings: The Radio Flyer Conundrum