Brittany Runs a Marathon (2019)    Amazon/Comedy-Drama    RT: 103 minutes    Rated R (language throughout, sexuality, some drug material)    Director: Paul Downs Colaizzo    Screenplay: Paul Downs Colaizzo    Music: Duncan Thum    Cinematography: Seamus Tierney    Release date: August 30, 2019 (Philadelphia, PA)    Cast: Jillian Bell, Michaela Watkins, Utkarsh Ambudkar, Lil Rel Howery, Micah Stock, Alice Lee, Peter Vack, Kate Arrington, Patch Darragh, Juri Henley-Cohn, Adam Sietz, Mikey Day, Sarah Bolt.    Box Office: $7.1M (US)/$7.4M (World)

Rating: *** ½

 I have to confess I’ve never been much of a Jillian Bell fan. She tends to play abrasive characters like Seth Rogen’s pregnant wife in The Night Before, the vice-laden school counselor in Fist Fight and the jealous/insecure best friend in Rough Night. Am I alone in this? Has anybody else noticed this about her? Let me be clear in saying that I don’t think she’s untalented. On the contrary, she is talented. She’s a naturally funny lady even if our ideas of humor don’t always sync up.

 My attitude towards Bell began to soften with her performance in last month’s indie comedy Sword of Truth in which she plays the inheritor of a Civil War-era sword. It’s her most likable character to date. Now she stars in her own movie Brittany Runs a Marathon. The first thing I’d like to say is that I hope it does for her what Trainwreck did for Amy Schumer a few years back. In the 2015 comedy, Schumer played a relatable albeit exaggerated character, a self-sabotaging party girl who finds self-respect through the love of a good man. It’s one of the few Judd Apatow comedies that I actually like.

 Bell’s character in Brittany Runs a Marathon isn’t too different from Schumer’s. She plays Brittany, a party girl who likes eating, weeknight clubbing/drinking binges and sordid sex hook-ups in public rest rooms. Her wild lifestyle frequently causes her to be late for her low-paying job handing out programs at a local theater. She lives with her alleged best friend Gretchen (Lee, Wish Upon), a shallow, self-absorbed teacher’s aide more concerned with likes on social media than the well-being of her roommate. One day, she goes to a doctor (Darragh, The First Purge) in hopes of getting him to give her drugs. Instead, he recommends a regiment of diet and exercise. She’s aghast when he tells her to lose 55 lbs. It takes some doing on her part but Brittany starts getting into a fitness routine. Eventually, her self-image improves to the point where she decides to train for the New York City Marathon.

 I’d like to talk about Brittany some more. At the start, she is a complete train wreck. It all stems from a poor self-image which can be traced back to a childhood marked by parental abandonment and a depressed dad who died young. Her lack of self-esteem causes her to surround herself with toxic people who continually tear her down. She’s extremely distrustful which causes her to lash out angrily at anybody who tries to help her. She’s never been in a real relationship. From what I can tell, she’s probably never been on a real date before. Her lack of experience in this area is reflected on what happens on a date with a guy she meets on-line. As she starts losing weight and feeling healthier, she begins to feel good about herself for the first time in her life. She even makes a couple of real friends, her running buddies Seth (Stock, TV’s Bonding), a gay dad trying to make his son proud, and Catherine (Sword of Trust co-star Watkins), a wealthy lonely woman trying to get through a contentious divorce and child custody battle.

 I absolutely LOVE Brittany Runs a Marathon. For one thing, it’s funny. To its credit, it’s not one of those comedies that derive laughs from humiliating its main character. When Brittany is humiliated, we feel it. The laughs don’t come at her expense. If anybody is made to look ridiculous, it’s Gretchen, clearly an exaggerated version of the typical social media whore who turns narcissism into an art form. Writer-director Paul Downs Colaizzo, making a solid feature film debut, mines humor from how Bell’s character reacts and interacts with others. Watch the back-and-forth between Brittany and Jern (Ambudkar, The Mindy Project), the man-child she meets in her gig as a pet sitter. He claims to be an artist whose art has practical use. He’s the nighttime dog sitter and he’s moved into the place in open defiance of the company’s policy. She thinks he’s a joke and he kind of is. Naturally, they become sexually involved.

 I’m certain that an entire thesis can be written about Brittany and her psychology; I’ll leave it to somebody more learned to undertake the task. However, it’s her character that makes Brittany Runs a Marathon such a gem. That and Colaizzo’s intelligent handling of the subject matter. Sure, it’s a predictable movie. We know that even with a setback or two Brittany will eventually run in the marathon. Of course, the movie isn’t really about whether she wins it or not. It’s about a damaged person looking to fix her broken self. She has a lot of work to do too. She’s no saint. She’s treated a few people terribly. Her self-image fix-up is also a form of redemption. Uh oh, here I go analyzing again.

 Here’s the bottom line. Brittany Runs a Marathon is a very good movie. It’s the right kind of feel-good movie. It’s a love story about a woman who comes to love herself. It even ends on the exact right note. What a terrific way to close out the summer movie season. I really hope this gets a wide release as it deserves to be seen and enjoyed by as many people as possible.