FILM: Brittany Runs A Marathon

From the fat-girl heroine gags in the trailers, one could easily confuse Brittany Runs A Marathon with the Rebel Wilson film Isn't It Romantic from earlier this year, but the similarities don't run deep. The other film is a romantic comedy cleverly framed as a parody of romantic comedies, while this film is a more earnest look at the challenges, both physical and mental, of being obese. When Brittany finally does run a marathon, it's not a cakewalk, and the film doesn't flinch from showing how grueling a marathon can really be at mile 22, but that only makes it all the more satisfying when she does cross the finish line. (Scant spoiler alert: Brittany runs a marathon.) And that's a metaphor for the whole film, which does have some grueling moments as Brittany struggles not just with her weight, but with her self-perceptions and her ability to see herself as someone worthy of accepting the help of others. Fortunately writer-director Paul Downs Colaizzo's handling of this self-improvement story deftly keeps it mostly light and likable, while also keeping it real but not ponderous. Jillian Bell's portrayal lets us see the sometimes comic tenderness of Brittany's defense mechanisms while conveying Brittany's own unawareness of them. In the end, it's rewarding to see how she gets to the finish line.