After watching the trailer for Brittany Runs a Marathon, I couldn’t wait to see the movie. I was convinced that it would motivate me to also get out there and, if not actually run a marathon, maybe at least take a walk or get on the elliptical machine.
But then I decided that was unfair pressure to put on a piece of entertainment, so I grabbed my popcorn and Diet Coke and just enjoyed it for the genuine crowdpleaser it is.
Brittany (Jillian Bell) is a millennial who, like too many her age, is lost. She spends her days sleeping and her nights partying until she gets a wake-up call from her doctor, who tells her she has to change her lifestyle and lose 55 pounds. Although she tries to joke that he’s asking her to remove the size of a working dog from her body, she is shaken by this news and realizes it’s time to take care of herself.
She can’t afford a gym membership so she decides to use Manhattan as her gym instead, with the goal of getting in shape to run the New York City Marathon. On her first day out, overwhelmed, she runs right back into her apartment instead. From then on, it’s literally baby steps.
Thanks to the likable Bell, Brittany is so relatable. With her self-deprecating humor and lack of confidence, we root for her, even when her defense mechanisms are so strong, she is unnecessarily cruel to people who don’t deserve it.
Ultimately, Brittany Runs a Marathon is not about losing weight but about learning to care for – and about – yourself and about putting in the work to reach a long-desired goal, no matter how impossible it seems.
Because Brittany Runs a Marathon is real — writer/director Paul Downs Colaizzo based the movie on his friend, Brittany O’Neill, who we get to meet in the credits — it’s even more inspiring and makes us believe that if these Brittanys could do it, so can anyone.
When I see it again with Michael, maybe I’ll even skip the popcorn.
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