Brittany Runs a Marathon: NZIFF Review
Easily one of the most commercial films of the festival, and crowd-pleasing in extremis, Brittany Runs a Marathon's commitment to good humour and geniality is obvious from the get go.
Jillian Bell is Brittany, an overweight party goer who's in a dead end attendant job at the local theatre, and whose propensity for casual hook ups and nothing serious has sent her into an early downward spiral.
Heading to the doctor to score some free drugs, Brittany gets a wake up call and decides to lose some weight and shake her life up.
The lifestyle-choices-catch-up-with-you sentiment is not exactly a new one, and the sentimental edges of Brittany Runs a Marathon can be seen coming a mile off, but that doesn't mean Paul Downs Colaizzo's screenplay doesn't present some highlights and positivity for everyone to take away.
Pitch Perfect's Jillian Bell makes great fist of the comedic elements of the script, and there are some genuine laugh-out-loud moments as the authentic and earnest film plays out, and deals out a character that's messed up and not necessarily one that's going to get perfection by the final frame.
Internal loathing, social awkwardness and lashing out as well as self-deprecation are the orders of the day as Brittany Runs a Marathon's body image message is got across through great swathes of recognition. It's hard to negotiate both insecurities and deal out empathy, but Colaizzo and Bell deliver in spades.
Brittany Runs a Marathon may collapse in gooey sentiment at the end, but it's almost forgivable, given how criminally enjoyable it is.
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