Brad's Status (2017)

Gore Vidal notoriously said, "Whenever a friend succeeds, a little something in me dies," which could be this movie's subtitle. Interesting subject matter I think, but this movie could have used more of an outright plot. Whether I'm right or not, this movie had the feel of having been written with a vague direction in mind but no structured outline set down beforehand. (The long bar conversation with the big-brown-eyed girl kind of came out of nowhere and I suspect did, to the writer as he sat at his laptop.) Ben Stiller was okay, but I felt his regular (facial) expressions of resentment could have used more variety and nuance. Knowing both ends of: not thrilling at running into people as I puttered along with nothing to brag about, to suddenly being put in charge of huge projects covered in the international press that suddenly made me the star of dinner parties, I found this an interesting movie, but wanted more of a story than a collection of vignettes. (For those who liked them, this movie I felt could almost go together as a sort loose trilogy with Stiller's GREENBERG and PERMANENT MIDNIGHT.)

Fmovies: Nice film and very thought provoking. It is a slow paced film but necessary with the narrative. Ben is such a versatile actor and this is evident in this film. In a world of money grabbing Hollywood Avenger-type franchises, this was a nice find. I often find these days that the lower the budget the stronger the narrative. Worth a watch for sure and I really enjoyed it.

"Brad's Status" is a comedy-drama from the co-writer of "The Emoji Movie". Notice that the marketing for this hasn't led with that.

But Mike White has done his penance here; this belongs up there with some of his best work like "School of Rock" and Jennifer Aniston's "The Good Girl".

The hero is Ben Stiller though, who plays the title character, whose reached a point in life where he can't help but find his life lacking when compared to others, particularly his friends.

And we've heard about movies that shine an uncomfortable light on us all; I know i've heard people say "mother!" does this, although many of us still have no idea what it's shining a light on.

But here it's actually very clear and very brilliant the way this film looks at things like achievement and idealism in America and how the striving for success and to put that bumper sticker on the car shouting it out can have an adverse affect.

Much of this film is Brad going through an inner-monologue with himself so be prepared for a lot of narration, but the fears he has are never ones you can't relate to and his hopes always something we feel the American dream should be, even when they're ridiculously selfish.

The best part about the film is that Stiller always feels like a character who has lived in the real world and who has had a natural progression from the way he thought in his youth to the way he feels now.

There are a number of profound moments here- one scene between Stiller and a young college student one of the best of the year. It's a slow moving movie but always compelling.

So I go 8 out of 10 guys. If you liked this, check out Craig James Capsule Reviews on Youtube.

Brad's Status fmovies. Most people, even successful ones,have doubts about themselves but Brad really needs a psychiatrist for his feelings of inadequacy and this movie lays it on so thick viewers may feel they have been recruited to the position. There are a few moments when some dim realization begins to set in that material success may not be everything but not enough to provide any kind of balance. If this was intended as a comedy it is too dour. If it was intended as a slice of life it is not a slice I would want to see.

Are we supposed to feel sympathy for a guy who has chosen to start a non-profit, has a loving wife, a nice house, a great son, and then whines about his life for most of the movie? I didn't. He is determined to make himself miserable by seeing nothing, but the lives of his buddies, who have seemingly been more materially successful.

He is taking stock of his life as he takes his smart, talented, decent son on his college tour, which includes his dream school, Harvard. (I am sick of Harvard being deified. Yale, Amherst, Williams, etc. are all viewed as lesser schools. They're not.)

In some ways, this is the modern, neurotic version of, "It's a Wonderful Life." A guy who has become bitter about his missed opportunities has the revelation that he's pretty lucky. But, somehow, Jimmy Stewart was charming. Ben Stiller is just irritating.

On one hand, he doesn't look down the social ladder to see how much better off he is than most people. He has a socially fulfilling job of his own making, not forced to work as a night janitor in an abattoir. And when he looks up the social ladder, he can only see an illusory world of wealth and happiness. It is beyond his imagination that people with more money - which is all he really knows about his old friends - can also be unhappy and unfulfilled. He doesn't know that there is "no there, there."

This is an aggravating, annoying movie. At one point, a young woman points out that his disappointment is really based on his white, male sense of entitlement. She says he should get pleasure from what he has done. I could barely contain myself from saying out loud, "Damn right!"

Brad (Ben Stiller) has lately been fretting about his "status" in the world of middle-agers. As he and his son Troy (Austin Abrams), a gifted musician and composer, are about to embark from Sacramento to a Boston tour of colleges, Bradley is in a funk. This is because he has been pondering the so-called more successful lives of his college pals. Jason (Luke Wilson) is a jet-setting, rich hedge-fund manager while Billy (Jemaine Clement) made a tech fortune and retired, at 40, on Maui. Worst of all, Craig (Michael Sheen) is a best-selling pundit on political issues and teaches at Harvard. What has he, Brad, done? For wife Melanie (Jenna Fischer) and himself, its strictly the mundane bourgeousie. Brad manages a non-profit that finds funds for other non-profits while Mel works for the California government. So, while Troy and his dad go to Harvard and Tufts for interviews, Brad upsets the apple cart by embarrassing Troy in front of friends and administrators. This is doubly so when Brad actually needs Craig's help to gain a 2nd interview with a dean! But, in truth, is Brad's status beyond lame? This wonderful, quirky film is almost a monologue as the viewer gets a running commentary by Brad of each and every situation. Yes, there are interludes of actual conversations and happenings and Abrams, Wilson, Clement, Sheen, Fischer and all of the rest do good work. But, its up to Stiller to carry the film with his wry, self- deprecating analysis of life and he does so beautifully. We bow to you, Ben! Scenery, costumes, illuminating script and deft direction all bring the film satisfying results. Most importantly, the movie truly gets it "right" on what makes a life well-lived. Go, go to Brad, film lovers! Hollywood rarely bestows gems like this anymore.