Brittany Runs A Marathon 2019

    This film is based on the real story of Brittany O'Neill.  She is a writer and Director Paul Downs Colaizzo’s friend and former roommate.  She began a similar journey toward better health in her late 20’s.  Brittany Forgleris is 27 years old and she lives in New York.  She’s everyone’s best friend but she’s not a best friend to herself.  She goes to a new doctor and the reason for her visit is to try to get a prescription for Adderall.  This is a combination medication used to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder or ADHD.  The doctor advises Brittany to get healthy.  She needs to lose weight, lower her BMI, blood pressure and blood sugar.  Brittany is too broke to join a gym and she’s too proud to ask for help.  Brittany doesn’t know what she’s going to do until she starts a conversation with her neighbor Catherine.  Brittany can join the running club that Catherine belongs to and she can start by running one block.  Brittany decides she’s going to start running and this decision leads to another decision.  She sets a goal to run the New York City Marathon!!
     This film was a LOT better than I thought it would be!!  You can see the muscles coming on and the weight coming off of Brittany’s body.  Jillian Bell actually lost 40 pounds during filming just like Brittany.  Jillian Bell worked with a marathon trainer to help her figure out how her running style would look and to evolve throughout the film.  She goes from a novice to an experienced runner training for a long distance run.  There is a set back when Brittany over trains and she gets a stress fracture.  There are positive messages when characters change slowly over time and they learn how to be kinder to others and to themselves.  The characters make mistakes, they are relatable, and they try to succeed at doing better.  There is courage, perseverance and self-control.  5* (I really liked this movie)     
104 min, Comedy directed and written by Paul Downs Colaizzo with Jillian Bell, Jennifer Dunda, Patch Darragh, Alice Lee, Erica Hernandez, Max Pava, Michaela Watkins, Adam Sietz, Dan Bittner, Mikey Day, Lil Red Howery, Kate Arrington, Beth Malone, Micah Stock, Esteban Benito.

Note:  Imdb 6.8 out of 10, Rotten Tomatoes 89% with 175 critics 87% audience with 1338 ratings, Roger Ebert 3* Monica Castillo, The Washington Post 3* out of 4* Ann Hornaday, The Guardian 3* out of 5* Cath Clarke, Letterboxd 3.3*, Metacritic 72 out of 100 with 33 critics (24 positive, 8 mixed, 1 negative) 5.6 out of 10 (16 positive, 7 mixed, 8 negative), Amazon 4.3* out of 5* with 1172 reviews, Common Sense Media Joyce Slaton, 5*, age 15+, 3* positive, 3* role models, 4* sex, 4* language, 4* drinking, drugs, smoking.

Special Note:  The cast and crew actually got to film at the New York city Marathon and this is the first time a non-documentary film crew has been allowed to shoot there.  During filming, many of the runners thought that Jillian Bell was really running and it was being filmed as part of a documentary.  Several times other runners stopped to help her during the more difficult scenes.  She didn’t have the heart to explain she wasn’t actually running the Marathon!!