Brittany Runs a Marathon

I came into this movie with low expectations. It really surprised me. It was raw, genuine and inspirational. Jillian Bells commitment to the role is something to be celebrated.

A lovely movie about overcoming ones obstacles, old ones and new ones. Will make you smile and motivates to do as the protagonist did.

I enjoyed much of Brittany Runs A Marathon. We see Brittany's lifestyle and she's come to terms with her not being happy being overweight. So she looks for the cheapest way to drop pounds, and that's where the running comes in. As she starts her new hobby, she makes new friends along the way, and unfortunately has a falling out with her roommate. She also takes on a house or dog sitting job, but I can't recall what happened to her theater job she has initially in the movie. The character of Brittany is a hard one to figure out. At first you think, oh poor her, I hope she does achieve her goal. But as time goes on, you see she's just as shallow and judgmental as the thin people she accused of being that towards her. And that's partly where the movie fails. We can't quite get emotionally invested in Brittany enough to root for her because she'll be nice one minute, but then turns around and is nasty the second. Unfortunately the movie really drops the ball in the last act. We sort of see her making up to a bunch of friends she hurt, then the movie does this 1 year jump to the following year's marathon(?!). After the marathon we see that her life has changed somewhat. But the problem is that we don't see the progression to that change. I mean, she does still have a bond with those friends because they cheer her on, but is she a nicer person, is she still nasty? Did she ever make up with her former roommate? It just felt a bit rushed to show her as a completely different person, even though there was no real progression towards that as of the previous scenes. Anyway, everyone in this movie is actually more likable than Brittany. Her FWB Jern is definitely a scene stealer, the actor playing him did a great job. A nice (rom?) com-ish film, even though the romance is kind of back-handed lol.

Based on a true story, Jillian Bell plays Brittany, a woman with insecurities and an unhealthy lifestyle, who is told by a doctor that it would be healthier for her to lose weight. This leads her on a path to discovery and eventual plans to run a marathon. I found this to have a generally good uplifting story, but the specific parts don't all work. The script could'v gone through another revision.

There are moments where the humor and dialogue really snaps and others where they don't work at all and scenes feel drawn out or superfluous. Brittany herself at times can be very sympathetic with real world doubts, but at other times her negative actions are so over-the-top that you can't relate to her.

Speaking of Brittany, Jillian Bell does a great job in the role. Many of us have probably seen her in things over the years, such as 22 Jump Street and Date Night, but she's mostly been a supporting player. It's nice to see her take center stage and show that she can do a bit of drama.

This movie is shot interestingly. It uses bright colors like a comedy but uses handheld camerawork and has sort of a more down-to-Earth feel.

As a feel-good movie, I thinks this works more than it doesn't. Just don't expect perfection.

I was really pleasantly surprised by this one. It was funny, but not really crass. There were a few cringey moments where the characters make terrible decisions or say things that are just painful to watch, but actually this was balanced by a lot of really adorable moments. I was afraid the movie might be too trivializing or too preachy, but it really did get down to the core of accepting help and that we all need people message. I actually ended up weeping at this one. I certainly did not see that coming! It had a lot more depth than I ever imagined it would. Highly recommend!