Brittany Runs a Marathon (2019) on Netflix
Brittany Forgler, a theater greeter, parties hard with her roommate Gretchen until a doctor tells her she is overweight. A neighbor's group run sets her sights on the New York City Marathon.
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- Netflix3.9/5
- IMDb6.8/1024,136 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes88%
Trailer
Plot summary
At 28, Brittany Forgler greets patrons at an off-Broadway theater in New York and spends her nights out with her roommate Gretchen, a teacher's assistant. A visit to a new doctor, made to obtain an Adderall prescription, brings a diagnosis instead: she is overweight and has to get healthier. The cheapest gym is beyond her means, so she starts running outdoors on her own. Catherine, her neighbor, invites her to run with a group, though Brittany dislikes what she takes to be Catherine's perfect life. After another night of partying, she goes along and meets Seth, a runner with the same struggles. The three train together and, once a 5K is behind them, commit to the New York City Marathon, which means Brittany needs a second job.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Brittany Runs a Marathon (2019)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Brittany Runs a Marathon was the first non-documentary film shot at the New York Marathon; the production went to the New York Road Runners, the marathon's organizers, to coordinate filming and avoid getting in runners' way.
- With no budget for visual effects to insert Jillian Bell into the race, the filmmakers shot the marathon for real; crew sizes were restricted and they were barred from the Queensboro Bridge over Department of Homeland Security security concerns.
- The story was inspired by writer-director Paul Downs Colaizzo's roommate, Brittany O'Neill, who appears in photos before the end credits; unlike the character, the real Brittany did not lose her parents young and had a more stable job.
- Paul Downs Colaizzo had never had a screenplay turned into a film and feared it would become generic without his involvement, so he assembled a presentation and storyboards to convince producers to let him direct his first feature.
- The climactic marathon scene was filmed during the 2017 New York City Marathon itself, with three filming crews working simultaneously to cover various stages of the race.
