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"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.

I read most of the comments and i just want to add something regarding the intention of Brade and how is life should not goes around people. Your behavior and purposes in life should come from inside you, something will make you alive and has a value and if you make it to be recognized or be impressed only you will be meserable whatever you are doing even if it is charity stuff. The movie is deep and has a lot about these days kind of life. Beautiful and i liked it so much. It touches me so much :)

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.)

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.

I hadn't seen a Ben Stiller movie in a while and this one kind of came out of nowhere. Very little marketing and promotion meant that when I saw it was released I was surprised, but it is reflected in its low budget. The movie follows Brad (Ben Stiller) who is disappointed with his life, since all of his friends became very rich and successful in life. The plot revolves around him going to Harvard with his son, who is trying to get into the university.

The rest of the plot if filled in with learning more about Brad and his successful friends, whilst his son is really only there to move the main plot forward. It all felt a bit slow, which was not helped by the sweeping camera shots with no speaking and Brad's narration that is a bit too frequent.

However, when things eventually happen in the plot it is good. It made me feel sad for Brad at times, yet happy when he realised what was truly important in life. The key message, of course, is that money does not equate to success and this movie certainly delivers that well. What I also enjoyed was that although this message has been littered in numerous movies, Brad's Status delivers it in a refreshing format.

Although Brad's Status will not wow you, it is certainly a good movie. The plot is nothing new and it may feel slow at times, but it will bring a smile to your face in the end. Regardless of whether you like Ben Stiller's previous performances or not, this will be a worthy addition to your watchlist, especially at this time of year when it can be chilly!