User reviews

Jillian Bell belongs to the tribe of comedic supporting actresses who often shines brighter than the pretty female lead of the movie. In 22 Jump Street and Rough Night, she was the only thing that held my attention.

So when I checked the cast and realized that she had been given star billing, I was happy. I expected an average, soapy, fell good, warm-under-the-blankets movie, considering the subject of the movie.

And I was glad to have been wrong. It was not an average movie; it was a very good one.

Brittany Runs A Marathon goes beyond the normal superficial fat-person-gets-a-scare-gets-fit-gets-happy-ending story. Yes, it does have those aspects to it, but it goes deeper than most New York-based young woman coming of age stories.

First off, Brittany is a smart person who is barely surviving in the big city, held hostage to the gig economy that has run amok in the US for income. She is stuck with a group of friends who look down on her and string her along to make them feel superior. Her roommate Gretchen (singer and YouTuber Alice Lee in a thankless role) is one of those conventionally pretty young woman who wants to become a social media star, who keeps Brittany around to pad her own insecurities. She is the fat girl of the group, and as a defense mechanism, she develops a great sense of humour (a high speed wit that definitely stands out among the various funny-as-a-defence-mechanism characters I have seen in many movies). She has the fast, club, drug lifestyle; everything a 30-something New York girl can be expected to be like.

The movie, after taking some time to develop her surroundings, starts delving into the story when she invariably has to go the doctor to score some prescription drugs. The doctor, very subtly and sincerely without judgement, advices her to drop 50 pounds in bodyweight. Alarmed at the health situation she's facing, she goes to the gym, and realizes it's too expensive for her (yet another 21st century problem which drives people away from fitness), and decides to take up running.

The scenes were she starts to run is one of the best scenes regarding mental health that I have seen in movies. She looks out at her footpath, and the surroundings, and is hesitant. Doubts run through her mind, and somehow, she wills herself to run one block. She does, and is completely winded. The next day, she runs another. Soon, she decides to make this an important habit in her life, and even joins Moneybags Martha (a delightful Michalea Watkins, a fellow SNL alumnus) in her running group. She makes another novice runner friend, Seth (a very good-looking Micah Stock). Meanwhile, as Brittany realizes Gretchen might not have her best interests at heart, she goes less and less out with her, and her relationship with Gretchen, slowly deteriorates.

Brittany lucks out with one of her pet sitting gigs, where she decides to stay when the owners are traveling around the world, and she also meets (Utkarsh Ambudkar), a fellow millennial who is stuck in a rut.

After finishing a 2 mile marathon and later a 5k run, Brittany is determined to finish in the prestigious New York Marathon, and throws herself into her new lifestyle. But progress is not always smooth and linear, like how most sports movies make it seem. She relapses into bad habits occasionally, is hard at herself for it, and punishes herself with grueling schedules. Along the way, the movie opens up her deeper emotional issues. Every time Brittany seems to be on the verge of making a genuine milestone, something happens which triggers the old insecurities. We go into the story of her parents' divorce and her love towards her late father, and how her brother-in-law took care of her. Her defense mechanism, which helped her during hard times with her father and later in school, have been holding back her progress, and slowly but steadily, she learns to let people who have good intentions towards her into her life. She opens up to Seth and Catherine, formerly known as Moneybags Martha, and decides to apply for jobs that she trained for. She decides to change her relationship with Jern into a healthy one, and makes boundaries with him.

The movie, written and directed by a man, based on the true story of his best friend, seems to be surprisingly realistic towards the experience of a woman who is physically and psychologically unhealthy on her journey towards healing her wounds. This is Brittany's story, and that means we get to see her at her best but also at her worst, many times, as she tries to drag herself out of her personal hellhole. The viewer is privy to not just her light speed wit and funny one-liners, but also acerbic and cruel comments, both borne out of her deeper psychological wounds. The subtleness and great care shown by the writer-director in depicting every aspect of a self-empowerment journey is what makes this movie stand out among such movies.

The cinematography on New York is well done, with minimal use of extravagant, beautiful shots that are a staple of rom-coms set in the city. The lighting is very appropriate to the scenes. The colors are bright whenever Brittany is in New York doing her thing, but goes darker when she goes into one of her dark phases, which I thought was a nice touch. A little care with editing, especially the inclusion of the epilogue would have made this a taut movie, but it seemed like the director decided to give Brittany her happy ending. He seemed to have been reminded by someone that too much realism could sometimes turn off people who came to watch a feel-good movie, apparently.

DIRECTION 7 SCREENPLAY 7 ACTING 7.5 CINEMATOGRAPHY 7

VERDICT: 7/10

Summer at the movies has come to an end and I can feel it from the lack of films coming out this and next week. However, Brittany Runs a Marathon is something that I wanted to make sure to see for somewhat personal reasons. No, it's not because I want to lose weight to look and feel better, although sure that's something good to get to one day. I more so identified with the idea of doing something for yourself and improving yourself, and just having a more all around positive attitude. Its something that I've really been focusing on this year and I feel so much better. The film is an entertaining watch and hammers home a few good messages.

The film is about a 28 year old who after visiting the doctor realizes that she needs to start losing weight to avoid serious health problems. The idea of running at first is so daunting and crazy to her but once she gets into it she sees things change, including her friendship, her romantic life, and also what she learns about herself and about the willpower she never knew she possessed. This is the first time I'm seeing Jillian Bell in a lead role and shes absolutely great in this.

The film does a great job of balancing humor and the drama that comes with it. The film is a rather empowering tale of loving oneself. Its not just about the physical gains that come out of taking care of yourself but a lot of it comes from the mind and being in a place where you are truly happy. As mentioned earlier, this is something that is so true for me in this stage of my life where I am consistently looking to improve myself and I've been happier than I've been before.

Getting back to the film its a nice bit of a character study filled with training montages, awkward romances, breakups of close friendships, and a theme of change. Yes, we've heard of all this before in film but Brittany Runs a Marathon does it very well. I do feel like the film loses its way in writing a bit near the end but ultimately it means very well and does a job of entertaining its viewers.

7/10

This film tells the story of a woman who decides to do something about her weight. However, it appears that her issues are more than just the weight. She goes through a journey of self discovery, and I think this is likely to resonate with a lot of people. It did resonate with me.

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 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.

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.

Greetings again from the darkness. Philosophically speaking, each of us is running our own marathon of life. Of course, every person's marathon has its own obstacles and challenges, and most of us have happiness as our end goal for the finish line. This first feature film from writer-director Paul Downs Colaizzo is based on the real life struggles of his friend Brittany, whose photos are shared over the closing credits.

Jillian Bell stars as Brittany, a 28 year old New York City party girl dedicated to avoiding adult responsibilities. She struggles to make ends meet financially, yet manages to drink copious amounts of alcohol and partake in recreational drug use. A trip to a Yelp-referred doctor in hopes of scoring Adderall ends with a harsh realization when he asks if she is making "healthy choices" ... her BMI places her in the obese category. Suddenly her friends' claiming she is the funniest person in the room can be interpreted as Brittany using humor as a coping method - a trait she recognizes in another character later in the story.

This is no simple "chick flick" filled with punchlines. Well, OK, it has plenty of punchlines thanks to the comedic brilliance of Ms. Bell, however, the film is also loaded with the emotional burdens that accompany societal standards. It exposes the nasty side of human nature in how we treat those who are overweight, or not meeting the accepted standard of attractiveness, or not wealthy enough, or not fashion-oriented, or whatever other standard being applied at any given time. Brittany takes us on the emotional journey of seeking happiness and self-actualization when one is mired in insecurities and depression. It's a journey that can be tough to watch and tough to experience.

The underappreciated Michaela Watkins plays Brittany's neighbor Catherine, whose athletic and artistic façade camouflage her shattered marriage and the accompanying pain. Ms. Watkins clearly embraces offbeat projects, as evidenced by her role in BRIGSBY BEAR (2017) and by appearing with Jillian Bell in this year's indie gem SWORD OF TRUST. When Brittany laces up her Chucks and runs that first block, Catherine jumps in and invites her to join a runner's club. It's there that Brittany and Catherine meet Seth (Micah Stock), an out of shape gay man proving to his son he is a strong father that can be relied upon. We see all three become friends, and though Brittany may have motivated them to run the NYC Marathon, we see that each is running for their own reason.

Other supporting work is provided by Lil Rey Howery (GET OUT) as Demetrius, Brittany's brother-in-law and surrogate step-father via Skype; Alice Lee as Gretchen, Brittany's narcissistic vlogger roommate; and Utkarsh Ambudkar as Jern, Brittany's slacker co-worker turned friend turned romantic partner. Even though Jillian Bell owns the film as Brittany, each of the talented support cast brings depth to their roles, allowing these to be actual people to whom we can relate. It's a risky move casting so many improve comedians, but the result is quite impressive.

The film is loaded with life lessons and chuckles, and with that comes moments of cruelty, self-centeredness, insecurity and depression. Friendship is key here. Is someone your friend if they belittle you and keep you around so they feel better about themselves? Are we a good friend if we don't allow others to support and help us out in times of need? The message these days is to accept yourself, and find happiness in the type of person you are. Brittany shows us that finding yourself is a crucial first step, and that accepting yourself doesn't mean accepting bad habits and poor health. The film was well received at Sundance, and it's easy to see why ... much easier than running that first block.

I really wanted to like this movie more than I did. I found it difficult to root for the main character "Brittany" because she treated everyone around her so poorly. As the movie went on I, was expecting (hoping) she would put forth more effort into being more apologetic to her friends/family and just overall try to be a nicer person but she just never did and then the movie ended. Could have a been a really good movie.

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

Okay, so, um... I watched this movie. I didn't intend to. I went on Amazon Prime to finish watching a movie about Leonard Cohen. My usual film fare includes classic and foreign films; art house and indie movies; historical fiction; biographies; films about music; political and other documentaries, and oh yeah... I watch a surprising amount of movies about the Holocaust.

Amazon was promoting this movie. There is a quote that said it is "hilarious." Well, I like hilarious films, you know, in between the biopics about war, civil rights, and whistleblowers. I doubted I would find this film hilarious though, or even funny, or watchable at all. I clicked play, out of curiosity... just for a sec, just maybe to roll my eyes and mock it, and then journey back to the fifth Leonard Cohen documentary I've seen this year.

An hour and a half later, here I am writing about this Brittany movie. I was right, I did not find it hilarious. I did like it though! Very much. Surprisingly. I don't even know what to call it. A "feel good" movie? Something like a Hallmark kind of film with an acerbic slant? I don't really know.

The gist of it is that Brittany is in her late twenties, out of shape, her life is a mess, her body is unhealthy, and when she goes to a doctor to try to score some Adderall, the decent doctor talks to her about lifestyle choices. Step by step, with some solid setbacks thrown in her way, she makes changes. Her goal becomes to run a marathon. I won't tell you whether she does or not, but this film, (based on a true story), does a good job showing her journey. Jillian Bell was great as Brittany. I liked the whole cast.

So, you're not wrong, Andrea, but you have it twisted. I am not going to get into it, but I dumbfoundedly shocked by this movie. It was honest, funny, not at all preachy or perfect, relatable on multiple levels and moving. For a fat guy who is trying, always trying, it was clear this movie was made by people who understand the struggle of the human condition. And not necessarily just those of being fat. This was more than about a fat girl who becomes a good normal. There were portions of the dialogue I wanted to record and send to others in my life, and portions I wanted to record and send to myself. IDK yet, but this movie could easily become one of my favorite movies of the year.

If anyone sees it and disagrees, you have to let me know why, because this movie was so touching and entertaining, I actually can't imagine how that would be the case.

I was enjoying the movie completely all the way through the twists and turns and mood swings and self-pity and longing and loneliness and frustrations and efforts to improve efforts to become a better person stumbling falling getting back up falling again having self-restraint self-control self-discipline sense of humor insight and courage to stand alone up until she insulted a big fat obese woman at her brother-in-law's birthday party. That little part showed a psychopath that completely ruined the whole movie for me. Because all of my empathy towards her went out the window. I can understand going after someone that you know but if you don't know them it makes you look like a complete psychopath. It went downhill from there so about 75% of the movie is great but the last 25% ruined for me.

Your going to hate me for asking you, but when was the last time you went to the gym or stepped on the scale? Some of your might say it was this morning where you got your daily run in. But a lot are probably going to squirm and either change the subject or admit it's been a while. No one wants to hear that they're unhealthy. I myself hate hearing that I need to lose a few pounds (okay, more like ten or twenty!), but I try my best to get to the gym at least 3 times a week for a little cardio.

What's also hard is trying to find the right way to lose weight. I'll also admit that despite going to the gym, it can be easy to feel out of place next to the bodybuilders or marathon runners. But this is why I like hearing stories about people that understand they need to help themselves and they actually go the distance to improve their lives. In today's movie, one woman who spends her nights drinking and making jokes at her work instead decides to lace up some shoes and start running. Let's see how it all goes in Brittany Runs a Marathon.

Young woman Brittany Forgler (played by Jillian Bell) is in a rut, who is single, isn't working in her favorite job industry and spends her nights with her roommate Gretchen (played by Alice Lee) partying. She also happens to be overweight, as she's not only aware, but makes a lot of jokes about that. Things take a turn when she goes to a new doctor in order to get new prescription pills (for drug use of course), only to be told her body fat and blood pressure is high, and also her liver is bad.

This seems to make enough of a mark that she visits a local gym, only to realize that she can't afford it. When she jokes that "people run in the streets for free", she simply tries running one block. The next day, she runs a little further. And then at the invite of her neighbor Catherine (played by Michaela Watkins), she joins a runners group that goes for two miles a day. As the running becomes easier for Brittany (along with weight loss), she decides, along with Catherine and another friend, to reach the goal of running the New York marathon. But during the journey, she starts to question who her friends are, especially after making friends with a house sitter Jern (Played by Utkarsh Ambudkar).

When I wrote my review for Trainwreck, I disliked it, despite the critical phrase, as not being that funny nor making Amy Schumer likable enough. That is not the case with Brittany Runs a Marathon as I found it very funny, very likable, and painted a genuine "nice" movie overall. A lot of it is on the lead actress, Jillian Bell who've I've seen on other movies like 22 Jump Street and Goosebumps, but this is her first staring role.

Jillian Bell actually reminds me of several women I've known; those that would always defend themselves with humor or those that seem to be aware of their toxic lifestyle and yet have a hard time escaping it. It's easy to see her troubles, but it's also easy to see what gets her out. Running is rarely easy, but this movie is a good reminder on how it can be enjoyable, especially if others are there to cheer you on. Even when she can be hurtful, it's easily forgivable as you understand what she's going through. Admit it; you've probably done it at least once just to make yourself fee better.

If the movie had a fault, it's in the third quarter when something happens that brings her down. I have no idea if it's a part of the real life story, but a lot of it feels like unnecessary filler just to give the main character more to complain about before she becomes pumped up again to go for her dream. While we do get some insight into her extended family, I kept thinking it could have been placed differently in the story and the low point could have used more creativity.

I'll give this seven running shoes out of ten. I have a hard time imagining someone not getting into Brittany Runs a Marathon and it's likable star. I really hope Jillian Bell gets more of a chance to shine in other projects (I know she has a character on Workaholics, but I haven't seen it). But for now, put on your running shoes and check it out.

28 year old Brittany Forglar (Jillian Bell) is overweight and stuck in her life. She is funny but irresponsible. Her doctor tells her to lose weight and she starts running. Her thin best friend roommate Gretchen constantly sabotages her. Her neighbor Catherine (Michaela Watkins) tries to mentor her but gets rejected. Finally, she befriends fellow struggling runner Glenn, a gay married parent who is looked down upon by his kids. Catherine pushes her way into their group as they strive to run in the New York City Marathon. She is actually struggling with her difficult divorce. Brittany gets a job house and dog sitting. She is joined by fellow slacker Jern (Utkarsh Ambudkar). As she starts to get in shape, she finds that her problems are more than physical.

Jillian Bell is meaner in this one than I expected. Normally, she is a fun, light actress. Her character has a mean streak which is attributed to her self-destructive personal image. It leads to a depth in the personal drama which is more than I expected. This does have plenty of great light humor but every once in awhile, this movie gets dark. Her confrontations with Gretchen and Jasmine really surprised me. Her romance also surprised me a little but a happy one. Jillian Bell doesn't have a mean bone so some of this doesn't feel like it fits. On a minor note, I don't think missing the subway is a good bit. I understand what it's trying to do. Somebody probably has a personal story but it's not that compelling. I actually prefer doing a scene which Brittany herself relays to Jern. As a fat woman, men sometimes treat her as one of the guys in their crude sexual talk. That is an often done scene but it's always a good scene to include especially when contrasted to her co-worker's boyfriend. The movie could also include a short montage of Brittany testifying for Catherine in her court case. Overall, I really like the premise, the movie, and what it's trying to do. I like Brittany's journey.

In these times, one really has to scrape the bottom of the barrel when it comes to finding something decent to watch. I regularly look through Netflix, Prime, Crave, Tubi and Apple TV just to find something that I can sit through and not look at my phone for 90 minutes, so I was sceptical when I looked at this one, but we went ahead and tried it.

In the end we were pleasantly surprised! I figured it would be a predictable story line that takes you to familiar places. Chubby, unmotivated girl gets her act together, starts exercising and finding some confidence, runs a marathon, finds love bla bla bla. But no, I really thought this movie brought more emotional intelligence with it and Jillian Bell gives a good performance to portray the emotional growth of Brittany. We were actually in tears at one point!

The writing is also not terrible, the other characters are well written and add necessary emotional backdrop to the coming of age story that it is. On the whole, it is actually a very watchable and enjoyable movie and caught me by surprise!

I wasn't too sure about this film going in as I wasn't sure what angle they were going to take. There was a lot of potential for it to fall flat and miss the mark, but thankfully they pitched it just right.

The themes around body confidence, discovery and acceptance, self love, were all well handled and had some decent emotional heft behind them. Alongside these meatier themes was some decent comedy, which was never hilarious but was always enjoyable.

There's a good cast of characters, with Jillian Bell giving a great performance as the lead I thought. Her character is very frustrating but it all works and the development of her character is fun to watch.

I also found this film kind of inspiring surprisingly, which was a nice note to end things on.

This film is probably unlikely to blow you away but it has plenty to enjoy and is much more sweet and sympathetic than I would have thought going into it.

First time I saw Jillian Bell was in Workaholics, a short episodes comedy series, a show where she showed she had a funny bone. So I was expecting the same level of hilarious moments in Brittany Runs A Marathon as this time Jillian Bell has the leading role. Her character, a bit chubby, is trying to change her way of life with the ultimate goal to be able to finish a marathon. I didn't laugh as much as I was expecting so for that I'm a bit disappointed but overall it's not a bad movie, it's just not a hilarious comedy.

Got to see this at the premiere at Sundance and the crowd loved it. Brittany is a character you want to root for. The story and acting are spot on. Avoids some of the cliches of feel good rom-com films, and is genuinely funny and touching.

I keep seeing this movie described With the tag lines: 'inspirational' and 'funny' and I can't understand why. I laughed once during this movie and it was a not that big of a laugh. A bigger problem for me was the pervasive pettiness, selfishness, shallowness, and overall feeling of being mired in jealousy and wishing negative things on others. Bc of all of these negative emotions, I found it difficult to feel at all sympathetic for Britney to the point that I really did not care at all what happened to her in the end. The movie could have ended with her accidentally falling into a volcano and I wouldn't have batted an eyelash. It's hard to watch a movie where the millennial protagonist is someone who is obsessed with her online presence, only views her friends as objects to be jealous of or to pity, and not only seems to hate herself, but she hates overweight people in general. There's nothing very inspirational or funny there, and I don't know anyone who acts like this in real life. This movie feels like it's striving to create drama where none exists and not striving to create comedy where it's desperately needed.

"Brittany Runs a Marathon" (2019 release; 103 min.) brings the story of Brittany. As the movie opens, it is "Autumn" and we get to know Brittany: she is sleeping in late, she drinks a lot, she parties even more. Then one day at a doctor's appointment, her doctor tells her that as a 28 yr. old, Brittany has "too much body volume" and he orders her to lose 50 pounds. Brittany decides to start running, and before we know it, on a dare, Brittany and several friends decide to train for the New York City marathon... At this point we are 15 min. into the movie, but to tell you more of the plot would spoil your viewing experience, you'll just have to see for yourself how it all plays out.

Couple of comments: this movie is the feature length debut of writer-director Paul Downs Colaizzo. Here he brings, as it turns out, the real life story of Brittany, an overweight 28 yr. old woman who struggles with self-esteem and finding a general purpose in life. It that sense, the movie is very much reminiscent of Amy Schumer's "Trainwreck" a few years ago. Same theme, same context: "getting one's life in order as a young woman in the 21st century". The movie's chance of success live and die with Jillian Bell's title role performance. She is fabulous, and she frankly carries the movie on her shoulders from start to finish. Even though we have seen her in smaller roles in films like "Office Christmas Party" and "Rough Night", playing Brittany truly is a breakout role for her. SNL alum Michaela Watkins plays Brittany's upstairs seemingly "together" neighbor Catherine with just the right amount of compassion and support as Brittany struggles through her daily grind. Utkarsh Ambudkar as Brittany's accidental roommate/potential romantic interest is outright funny and hilarious.

"Brittany Runs a Marathon" premiered at this year's Sunday film festival to positive acclaim and Amazon Studios immediately picked it up for a staggering $14 million. The movie finally made it into US theaters this weekend. The Friday evening screening where I saw this at was not attended all that well (about 10 people). Maybe this will find a wider audience as it is released on other platforms. Regardless, if you are interested in the life and struggles of a 28 yr. old woman in New York as she pursues personal happiness, or simply are a fan of Jillian Bell, I'd readily suggest you check this out, be it in the theater, on VOD or eventually on DVD/Blu-ray, and draw your own conclusion.