Marathon (2021) Film Review
I love films that make me react in a “I’ve been there” way, and this is something you would it’s common but it’s not. This is less frequent in comedy films.
It’s the reason why Marathon starts so well. This is a mockumentary about people preparing themselves for a marathon. I was a fairly dedicated runner at some point and some of the “glitches” I had at the time are actually present in the film. Good scripting.
However, it only constitutes a small portion of the film. The rest is comedy driven to a point of exhaustion. Marathon is not a horrible experience. It’s just an awkward misuse of a concept that would have worked so much better by doing so little.
Marathon is a mockumentary documenting the lives of five potential runners who decide to run a marathon. It also shows the organizer of the event, a despicable and cheap man who knows nothing about organizing events of the nature nor running. What can possibly go wrong?
The film is a comedy set on overusing cliches to give its characters some kind of personality beyond the comedic aspect of their situation. The film accomplishes none of these, as it slowly waits for a “climactic” third act that’s only a confirmation of a thought. There’s nothing funny about this.
Initially, Marathon is very funny. The obsessed idiot who worships running as a lifestyle, the mother who wants to be something other than a mother, the one guy who wants to show his sister running is a sport (sparking the best line in the film “Running isn’t a sport. Everyone can do it. Everyone shits, does that mean shitting is a sport?”), and the rest are… not that important. The film takes each story and develops the events during the preparation.
The problem is the first hour of the film is a definite repetition of jokes and insights. This monochromatic tone of the film makes it tiresome. When the film finally progresses, it’s too simple of a resolution.
Of course Marathon can make everyone remember This is Spinal Tap. I don’t see how that can be missed. But that comedic gem was helmed by a team of writers that were at the top of their career and actually had a story to tell. They did.
Marathon isn’t a bad film. It’s just too lazy in its development beyond its simplistic idea and execution. Considering all the insights they could have used they decide to go for explosive comedy and overacting (the element of racism in law enforcement didn’t work for me, Emilou’s character is annoying, Jenna’s partner, the banana guy, is just a terrible decision script wise). It’s impossible to stop imagining a much better version of this film after it ends. Editing, script revisions, and the analysis of a general tone could have saved this from being a lackluster entry into the world of mockumentaries.
