ReelBob: ‘Brittany Runs a Marathon’ ★★★½

By Bob Bloom

True confession: I spend the majority of my days sitting on my butt in front of my television watching various shows or a movie or in front of my laptop watching a soon-to-be-released screener to be reviewed.

I do desire to get outside and, at least, walk around my neighborhood to get some fresh air, my blood pumping and improving my health.

Unfortunately, while the brain is willing, the body is lazy. Alas, like so many others, I continually put off doing what could improve me physically, mentally and spiritually.

Now, though, I have a new impetus — “Brittany Runs a Marathon.” After seeing this film, you will want to jump off your couch or recliner, open your front door and step out into the sunlight.

Jillian Bell, last seen a few months ago in “Sword of Trust,” plays the title character — an overweight woman of 27, working in a dead-end job with no prospects for a better or higher paying job or dating prospects.

After a visit to a doctor’s office — in an attempt to score some Adderall —  she is told by the young physician that she must improve her health, change her eating habits and begin some physical activity.

Brittany, who cracks jokes to deflect in uncomfortable situations, is reluctant to change her ways. She is in denial about her entire life and is reluctant to begin something she believes will not improve her.

Writer-director Paul Downs Colaizzo includes several shots of Brittany examining herself in mirrors. And, as she does, you can see Brittany slowly accepting that change is necessary.

Ever so cautiously, though, she takes those important first steps. She dons sweatpants and running shoes, peers from the front door of her New York City apartment, then dashes back inside.

Brittany makes another attempt — and this time, she is on the sidewalk. Soon she is trotting and makes it around the block.

Bell’s performance sells this sequence. Her face reflects the myriad of emotions coursing through Brittany — a mixture of self-consciousness and insecurity that, up to this point, she has been able to mask behind a hard-partying and drinking persona.

Bell helps you identify with Brittany’s determination to go it alone and shun all attempts by others — including her new running friends, Catherine (Michaela Watkins) and Seth (Micah Stock) — to support her.

Despite her brittle and somewhat cynical exterior, Bell is able to expose the vulnerability that weighs down Brittany. She fears letting people in, afraid they will see her weaknesses.

Bell makes you wish you could jump into the frame, offer Brittany words of encouragement and help her succeed.

As the movie progresses, we watch Brittany change. She becomes more assertive, telling her self-absorbed roommate, Gretchen (Alice Lee), who is becoming increasingly annoyed by Brittany’s new lifestyle, that, “I’m not going to be your fat sidekick anymore.”

You wince when Gretchen retaliates by telling Brittany that no matter how hard she works, “You will always be a fat girl.” You have to control yourself because you so badly want to slap Gretchen.

If the movie has a weak spot, it is the romance between Brittany and Jern (Utkarsh Ambudkar), who meet while they are house and dog-sitting in a posh apartment. The relationship feels contrived and at odds with the rest of the movie.

Whether or not Brittany runs in the New York City Marathon is not the point of the movie. This film is about the journey, not the race.

“Brittany Runs a Marathon” is a film not so much about how others see you, but how you view yourself. It’s a movie about body shape and weight and the notions created by people who mostly judge us by how we look.

This is a life-affirming, inspirational movie that will elicit smiles and laughs. It also should elevate Bell’s stock. She dominates the movie, whether it’s because of her self-destructive behavior and insecurities or in remaking herself into someone who realizes and accepts that she may not be perfect.

“Brittany Runs a Marathon” is one of the most memorable movies of the year. I suggest you walk — or run — to the nearest theater and see it as quickly as you can. It may even change your life.

I am a founding member of the Indiana Film Journalists Association. My reviews appear at ReelBob (reelbob.com) and Rottentomatoes (www.rottentomatoes.com). I also review Blu-rays and DVDs. I can be reached by email at bobbloomjc@gmail.com or on Twitter @ReelBobBloom. Links to my reviews can be found on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

BRITTANY RUNS A MARATHON
3½ stars out of 4
(R), language, sexual situations, drug references and usage