Brad's Status

"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.

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.)

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.

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.

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!