Written and directed by Paul Downs Colaizzo and winner of the 2019 Sundance Film Festival Audience Award, Brittany Runs a Marathon follows an unusually poignant portrait of a young woman, played by Jillian Bell, uncovering her long-buried potential.

Brittany Forgler is everybody’s best friend ― except maybe her own. At 27, her hard-partying ways, chronic underemployment, and toxic relationships are catching up with her, but when she stops by a new doctor’s office to try to score some Adderall, she gets slapped with a prescription she never wanted: Get healthy. Too broke for a gym and too proud to ask for help, Brit is at a loss, until her seemingly together neighbor Catherine pushes her to lace up her Converse sneakers and run one sweaty block. The next day, she runs two. And soon, after finishing her first mile, she sets an almost unthinkable goal: running in the New York City Marathon.

The rest of the cast includes Michaela Watkins, Micah Stock, Utkarsh Ambudkar, Alice Lee, and Lil Rel Howery.

Colaizzo won the Helen Hayes award for his playwrighting talent, and now, he is making his screenwriting and directorial debut with a slice of life movie. Brittany Runs a Marathon reminds me of Richard Curtis or Cameron Crowe storytelling.

The three movie clips show Brittany’s attitude before she starts changing her life around and getting in shape. The first clip is obscure, and its purpose of the scene is unconvincing.

The last clip is in the trailer but shows how Brittany managed to get by in life by lying. The doctor is smart and sits her on a path of redemption and a healthier lifestyle.