Marathon is a beguiling comedy in the vein of Christopher Guest mockumentaries such as Best in Show and A Mighty Wind that centers on a group of runners competing in the Devil’s Canyon Marathon, a rather lame event haphazardly put together by the ineffectual nerd Ed Clap (Jimmy Slonina). Nevertheless, the race attracts a group of oddballs.
Emilou Paunch (the witty Kimia Behpoornia who has a shining presence) backs out early but the filmmakers still follow her binge-watching, eating, and fantasizing about a big-dicked former classmate. Andrew Hansen plays Ryan O’Brien whose accident-prone clumsiness eclipses his macho pretension and grandiose soliloquies.
In one of the funniest storylines, Jenna Kowalski (Natalie Sullivan) wants to break the world record of fastest marathon time while dressed as a fruit—specifically a banana. She engages in a tense rivalry with Ben Duffy, another banana-wearing runner from Dole, the race’s sponsor. Roberto Raad’s antics as the method actor who refuses to remove his banana costume—even during sex or preparing for his spin on Hamlet—will leave viewers in hysterics. Their hatred eventually turns to fruity passion.
Marathon has bold off-the-wall humor, but it also flexes some more serious muscles. It uses comedy to expose the uncomfortable realities of systemic racism in Shareef Washington’s (Tavius Cortez) plot. As a black man, cannot jog through his neighborhood without being hunted by the police or mistaken for a perpetrator. This would be funny if it wasn’t so true. Marathon also tugs on the heartstrings in Abby Dozier's story (the sad-eyed Anais Thomassian), a frazzled new mother who struggles to balance her maternal duties with her running ambitions. Her harried parenting moments are more pitiful than laughable, made even more so by Thomassian’s empathetic performance.
Marathon has a brisk pace that keeps you fully invested in seeing who will make it to the finish line. The journey is half the fun when the characters and the situations they get into are this quirky. Writers and directors Keith Strausbaugh and Anthony Guidubaldi craft a sharp-witted script that wonderfully balances absurd comedy with genuine emotion and deeper themes. Viewers are easily invested in this eccentric ensemble as they navigate triumphs, love, disappointments, injuries, and setbacks. Guidubaldi and Strausbaugh have unequivocally assembled a winning entry in the mockumentary genre. Marathon deserves a gold medal for its cutting sense of humor and lively spirit.