Brittany Runs a Marathon

Score:  A-

Directed by Paul Downs Colaizzo
Starring Jillian Bell, Michaela Watkins, Utkarsh Ambudkar, Lil Rel Howery
Running time: 103 minutes
Rated R

Long Story Short:  The title may capture the basics of this dramedy, but there's much more going on in this high-quality film.  Led by a great performance from Jillian Bell and a superb supporting cast, new filmmaker Colaizzo also pens a fantastic script to overcome a few newbie hiccups.  This is probably not what you're expecting, but it's for the better.  Highly recommended.


Brittany (Bell), in her late-twenties, finds herself adrift and growing - but in the wrong ways.  Her doctor warns her of the risks of not getting her weight under control, and so she grudgingly hits the streets of New York, if not at a brisk pace.  There she finds a whole new world of runners, from other aspirers like herself to the long-time enthusiasts like her seemingly-perfect neighbor, Catherine (Watkins).  As Brittany struggles to take control of her physical life, a domino effect of other changes begin in her life, and she relies on relationships both old - such as her close brother-in-law, Demetrius (Howery) - and new - such as slacker house-sitter, Jern (Ambudkar).  Despite her devotion, it's a hard road to travel, and the goal of transformation is hardly assured.

Brittany Runs a Marathon has an ecclectic yet excellent cast, led by its title character.  Jillian Bell, a notable but mostly peripheral up-and-comer, takes on the lead and breathes genuine, gripping, and sympathetic life into her ostensibly ordinary character.  Aided by a tremendous script, Bell avoids a minefield of cliches and other acting dangers to create a truly unique, believable character.  Cynical and jaded at the start due to the everyday ways others - and she herself - treat her, the inevitable turn toward improvement and self-respect comes in fits and starts.  Yes, she's funny, but it's not her dominant feature or strength; rather, it's her will power and quiet, steady persistence that shine through.  She is capable of lashing out at others - even friends - in ways that mirror her own wounds, yet Bell ultimately allows her deeper, less showy humanity win out.  She's basically like anyone else but also her own self, and thus the definition of a great character.  Everyone else is supporting, but they provide a rich, varied web of relationships for Brittany.  Watkins and Micah Stock are her running buddies; Stock is good comic relief, and Watkins is a standout in several poignant scenes.  Howery is laugh-out-loud at times, as expected, but succeeds in quieter moments, too.  But Ambudkar nearly steals the whole show, as a hilarious deadbeat early who develops organically into a flawed yet warm, likable guy.  Only Alice Lee, as Brittany's toxic roommate, overplays things a bit, but her role still produces the intended results.

Brittany, both the character and the film, begin as potentially derivative stereotypes that immediately deliver more meaningful and entertaining - and far deeper - results than expected.  The premise is a familiar one in which a character with a central, visible flaw works to overcome it through an overall transformation.  That's fine, but you need either a really impressive script or performances to get something out of it that stands out.  Fortunately, Brittany has both.  I'm having a hard time recalling any film that sketches out a more vivid and believable real-world scenario than this.  It's of this moment in time, finding a place for everything from social media to opioids in a natural way while not flaunting them.  Most important is the seeming mind-meld between first time writer-director Colaizzo and star Bell.  While the actress communicates both subtly and devastatingly with her mere body language, she also delivers her great lines just the way they need to be.  If everyone else in the film were mere scenery, though, it wouldn't have been nearly as good.  As in real life, Brittany shows that we owe who we are at least as much to those around us as to our own efforts and traits.  Brittany may have lived with a longtime "friend" at the start, but that and the loss of other relationships had a direct effect on her spinning out of control.  While she takes the initiative herself to turn things around, it's only by meeting and truly getting to know Watkins' once-reviled neighbor - and a few other friends - that it takes hold.  And when setbacks threaten to upend her efforts, it's both new and old friends again who help her back up.  There are a few awkward turns along the way, and some conversations that get a bit too on-the-nose; when Brittany's feeling down, the cable TV-quality score is also an ear-sore at times.  But Brittany gets the important things right - oh, and she does run that marathon, and it's at least as uplifting as hoped - and in ways that you probably won't expect.

***

Brittany Runs a Marathon is a great success of its own, and an equally good sign for the film industry overall.  Produced by tech giant Amazon, this is a far better effort than its well-intentioned but poorly executed Late Night from earlier this year.  If we can get more creative, talent-driven films like these funded going forward, it's only a good thing for film.  Colaizzo, up to now involved in theater, and Bell, a supporting comedic actor, are the kind of people we want leading films; what we don't want is efforts like Ad Astra - coasting on familiar names and previously-successful formulas to disaster.  Since this is from Amazon, it will hopefully be available on Prime at some point.  Be sure to give it a try when you can!



* By Source, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=60964660