Get ready to want to improve your life after seeing the funny and inspiring ‘Brittany Runs a Marathon’

Posted on October 4, 2019

By MARK VIOLA

A story in which the main character makes a conscious decision to change their life for the better is the closest thing to a “coming-of-age” story for adults. I’ve said many times that I’m a sucker for a good coming-of-age story, so that is likely one of the reasons I really enjoyed “Brittany Runs a Marathon.”

It also doesn’t hurt that the film is smartly written, well-acted and is quite entertaining.

The story follows Brittany (Jillian Bell, “22 Jump Street”), a 27-year-old New Yorker who is always up for a good time, even at the cost of her health. A visit to the doctor in search of Adderall instead results in a diagnosis: get healthy before it’s too late. Not knowing what else to do, she decides to mimic her neighbor Catherine (Michaela Watkins, “The Unicorn”) and take up running, even if it’s just a block at first.

Brittany finds herself actually enjoying running, and after realizing that her life is getting healthier in more ways than one, decides to make a new goal for herself: run in the New York City Marathon. The journey won’t be easy, and Brittany’s own insecurities won’t make it any easier, but nobody runs a marathon because it’s easy.

I’ve never been a runner myself, but I can say I wanted to run a marathon after watching this movie. And, that is the glory of this movie. You spend two hours rooting for Brittany to better her life, and then leave the theater and wonder why you can’t do the same.

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