Brittany (Jillian Bell) lives a wild lifestyle. She spends many weeknights out clubbing and drinking, ultimately making herself sick the next day. Her love life is non-existent other than random hookups while being drunk at bars and clubs. After visiting her local doctor and trying to get drugs, Brittany has the realisation that her health is at a dangerous level and begins to feel even lower about herself. After some serious consideration, Brittany decides to make some changes in her life. One of these includes trying to lose weight by running around her neighbourhood. Soon she makes some new friends who support her, leading Brittany to set up the ultimate challenge for herself: to compete in a marathon! For Brittany, it’s not about the race; it’s about getting over the finish line and doing something huge in her life.
As you would expect with a plot like this, this film is a feel-good comedy with a touch of drama. Actress Jillian Bell who plays Brittany, is quite enjoyable to watch and even more so when she begins to make challenging but joyful life-changing decisions around her.
Brittany Runs A Marathon has a beautiful and quick setup, and the 2nd act builds to something exciting with so much potential. But for me, the film’s third act is where the film struggles the most. Not only are there multiple messages appearing for the film audience, but the final moments for Brittany begin to drag on instead of finishing the film with a bang and a solid resolution. For me, the 3rd act doesn’t quite match the rest of the film.
I also found the film’s love interest slightly weak and at moments uninteresting. As well as this, the jokes don’t always earn a hardy laugh, and sometimes a ‘funny’ one-liner can fall flat.
Overall, actress Jillian Bell is lovely on-screen as Brittany, delivering a heartwarming character who decides enough is enough and decides to change her life forever. The actress is convincing, and it’s evident that some serious effort has gone in from the actress for the film. Brittany Runs a Marathon is a feel-good comedy film with the added genre of drama and is suitable for many to enjoy. While I enjoyed the 1st and 2nd acts, the film begins to show signs of struggling in the third and final act, simply dragging on for longer and combining several messages, ultimately really hurting the film and everything it was “running” towards.
5.5/10
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