Los pasos de papá

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.

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.

So real. Flawless performance. One of the best movie this year so far. It's not a movie for everyone. I understand why some people could fall asleep while watching it. Its depth could be understood only if one have had several years fighting and climbing in the society and have a family and children to cherish and thankful for. I felt the echos in my soul and could foresee what I would look like in Brad's age. Everyone is relatively poor; the circle can be one percent, or one millionth or one billionth. And vice verse everyone is relatively happier and richer compared to the rest. And the "real pains" come from those meaningless comparisons and competitions that we impose on ourselves. Everyone have a choice of how to live their lives and how to plan and realize their futures. It's just a bunch of unique decisions that we have made and are making for ourselves. When you are jealous about someone's success in career or something, you don't know how much they sacrifice on their life balance or health or something else that you weigh way more over the former. There's no better or worse life. There is always shadow behind sunshine. It's just a matter whether you like it or not, grateful or regretful. And if you like your life and are grateful, you already win the competition if you really want such a comparison.

"Everyone is thinking about themselves. Nobody cares about you. The only person cares about you is me. So you should only care about my opinion."

I love the ending. There's no silver bullet to avoid so called midlife crisis. Can Brad have a sound sleep that night? Not sure. What I am certain is that we have to make every seconds in life count and always gives thanks to God, life and everyone in our life, to live a life which we will never regret.

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.)

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!