Brittany Runs a Marathon is a charming, funny trip through self improvement

Jillian Bell in Brittany Runs a Marathon. Image courtesy Amazon Studios.

The biggest depicted success in the delightful Brittany Runs a Marathon is one of the earliest, when the main character barely runs to the end of a New York City block. Eventually the character does complete the feat mentioned in the title, but the film's focus is not just on the grand moments but on accomplishing those little milestones along the way. Every step forward is a step toward something greater, even if the film sometimes can't stay on that path completely.

Jillian Bell stars as the eponymous Brittany, a hard-partying late 20-something with little direction and even less ambition. Pushed by a doctor to get into better shape, Brittany starts running alongside the energetic Catherine (Michaela Watkins) and the friendly Seth (Micah Stock). Brittany's dream becomes to run the New York City Marathon for the challenge and to spite her shallow roommate Gretchen (Alice Lee). Things start to turn around for Brittany as her health improves and she catches the eye of artistic slacker Jern (Utkarsh Ambudkar), but the good times can only last so long. As the training gets more difficult and life events turn against her, Brittany has to defeat her self doubts and begin to accept herself as a person worthy of friendship from Catherine, Seth, Jern, and her supportive brother-in-law Demetrius (Lil Rel Howery).

The charm of Brittany Runs a Marathon starts with Bell, a terrific comedienne who brings out both the best and the worst of her character. Brittany isn't that far from being a tepid character – movies about emotionally delayed white folks are a dime a dozen – but Bell keeps Brittany tolerable even as she drifts into caustic self loathing and lashes out at others. The inevitable coming through the wilderness moment in the third act is validated because Bell makes for a brilliant, lovable underdog one step at a time. This is the theme of Brittany Runs a Marathon, that people can achieve far more than they think they can through incremental success. Brittany is designed to be a normal person, someone who went from doing nothing to finding purpose and self satisfaction with who she is. Running makes for the perfect woman versus self story because it requires Brittany to defeat her self hatred to achieve a greater purpose of being. Bell makes Brittany worth rooting for, but the journey is relatable for the weekend warriors who grind through streets with no intention of actually winning the race. For Brittany Runs a Marathon, just getting through that first block is a massive success.

 

The cracks of Brittany Runs a Marathon begin to show as the films moves away from Brittany. While Watkins and Stock are good in their roles, neither is a particularly fleshed out character, designed to be there more for Brittany's sake then themselves. The film throws in a subplot in the third act for Catherine, but the timing is too late to establish it as a crucial part of Catherine's characterization. Gretchen exists solely to be hated, never allowed to overcome her initial awfulness and be more than a barrier for Brittany to overcome. Seth is the stock gay friend who exists as a support structure. The worst though is Jern, who is described as a man-child in the film and doesn't evolve beyond that. For a woman who seeks growth and self improvement, it's strange for Brittany to come back to someone who never shows any burning desire to better himself. Jern is a problem because he is uninterested in growing up in a movie that emphasizes personal growth over almost everything else.

At the least though Jern is often funny, as are the rest of the characters. First time writer/director Paul Downs Colaizzo has a good ear for banter and a solid sense of comedic interaction. Colaizzo throws in some pretty good one liners for Bell and company to chew on, and even uses some clever bits of visual humor to punctuate the jokes. Colaizzo and the film don't go for broke, but they get the little things – Brittany's growth, her relationships with Demetrius, Catherine, and Seth, the final race – right more often than not and create an endearing movie worth rooting for.

*This movie was produced by Amazon Studios. I work in a different department at Amazon.

Review: Four out of Five Stars

Click here to see the trailer.

Rating: R

Run time: 103 minutes

Genre: Comedy

tl;dr

What Worked: Jillian Bell, Story, Humor

What Fell Short: Secondary Characters

What To Watch As Well: Rudy