Brad's Status (2017) Online

"Brad's Status" begins like a coming-of-age film about a young man interviewing colleges as he embarks upon adulthood. But the coming-of-age experience is more applicable to the boy's father, who is experiencing a peculiar mid-life crisis about "status."

In the bonus track of the DVD of "Brad's Status," the writer-director described the film as a personal drama about "status anxiety." Brad is overly concerned with competition and what others think about him. In a scene where he reunites with an old college chum, the friend never even recalled their relationship as competitive.

For poor Brad, the glass always seems half empty. One of his realizations in the film is that "sometimes in life, you can lose the plot." Indeed, Brad has lost his narrative, and it takes his perceptive son get him back on track.

The film stretched credibility by making Brad's son far too wise beyond his years. The same was true of a young musician friend of the son, who takes the father to school with life lessons, telling him simply, "Trust me; you have enough."

It may be difficult for most of us struggling to earn a living to relate to Brad's status anxiety. But despite its shortcomings, the film has some thoughtful dialogue, and Ben Stiller is excellent in the role of Brad. There are many heartfelt moments where the poor schlub begins to realize how full and complete his life really is.

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!

It speaks volumes that a movie like this gets a 6.6 here at IMDb while a Guardians of the Galaxy gets an 8.5.

I thought this movie was great. This movie will undoubtedly do very well in Europe, as do Woody Allen movies, and for the same reasons: this movie articulates some of our inner thoughts and re-focuses our attention on what is important in life. It is engaging and makes you think. Highly entertaining.

Many people I believe were put off by the abrupt ending and it is a bit abrupt. But the writing is just perfect and Ben Stiller has so much depth. Ben Stiller has to be commended. He can make millions and chooses from time to time movies like this one and Greenberg. Keep them coming Ben. Much appreciated.

A gem.

Brad is the type of guy who doesn't belong in any kind of social circle really. For some he is too low for their class, for others he is too high. While his problems are laughable compared to problems that are solved by the funds he raises, that doesn't make his problem mom existent. People generally tries to classify this type of films as futile attempts by privileged people. But human mind is always in a fight with itself to achieve more in life and whatever the world around is going about ultimately it's your mind that decides if you have failed yourself or not. Even though the film deals with familiar themes the script is powerful enough to keep you uncomfortable throughout the film. Ben Stiller again proves his best characters are dramatic roles with a light touch of comedy.

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.

"We aren't poor." Melanie Sloan (Jenna Fischer)

In those three words, the titular character's wife succinctly parses his midlife crisis: Brad (Ben Stiller) needs to smell the roses, to see that what he has in his upper-middle class comfort is more than most could hope for. Brad's Status is a text book exposition of a man's midlife crisis at 47 years old.

It's not a pretty sight when he embarrasses his brainy son, Troy (Austin Abrams), at a Harvard interview opportunity by pushing too hard with the admissions staff. Besides that obnoxious parent-at-interview motif, which I have witnessed as a Georgetown alumni interviewer, Brad is struggling, mostly in voice-over narration, with an unhealthy envy of his buddies who have entered into the 1% of fame and wealth.

A Tufts grad that started his own non-profit, Brad needs a jolt to realize how good his life really is. Buds like noted author and TV star Craig (Michael Sheen0 prove to have their own issues that don't show up in the media. Too obvious a compensation from writer/director Mike White, nonetheless it is axiomatic that "the grass is greener on the other side." Will Brad learn this lesson after thinking about his accomplished wife and son? You can pretty much guess.

Although I could not sympathize with Stiller's previously solipsistic hero in Greenberg, his Brad makes mid-life sense to me as he gains our sympathy over his self-centered obsessions. Xavier Grobet's cinematography, focused as it is on close ups of Brad, does very little else to further visually this universal experience, and generally none of the shots are as remarkable as the simple takes of the two coeds' classical playing in the orchestra.

Stiller should be nominated; no recent actor has shown such authentic anguish at that certain time of life when you can accept the goodness of the life you have led or drive yourself into an unpleasant status.

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!"

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's Status

Mike White's vision, idea, lines and words relates with the audience and with the help of Ben Stiller's majestic performance as an overthinking negatively charged person, Brad's Status connects each and every dot that a cinema should.

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'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.

Mike White the writer and the director gets a little credit and all the blame for this one. The lead character is so shallow and difficult to be around. If that isn't bad enough he is constantly revealing his thoughts and feelings in voice over dialogue. It's a perfect movie for a blind audience. Little is shown, every aspect of an inferiority complex is verbally expressed.

There's a sophisticated score that sounds classical. The music is loud and often distracting. The movie is slow with multiple scenes of the bottom of a curtain moving slowly in a draft. There's a restaurant scene near the end that is way to long and tedious.

If you want to see a movie that evokes the emotion you want to shake or slap the protagonist this is for you. It doesn't take long to realize you are wasting your time watching someone that would benefit from a therapy session.

The movie is annoying to sit through. There is no need to see it in a theater as it will play just as bad on a home platform.

There's not a lot to say about this film, not that it is bad, its just that it's not particularly good. What was good, however, was watching it on a media which allowed me to to skip ahead and save a little bit of time. Having said that, I realize that I just admitted to getting a discount of something that I didn't want in the first place.(a cup-half-full moment). It felt like I was taking an uncomfortable journey on a path leading back to where I started from. Ben can act, but probably shouldn't put his talents to subject matter which toy's with the fringe of depression, cos he will make you feel that way.

This movie is based on a very interesting concept about a mid-life crisis and accepting one's course in life. Told mostly from the perspective of a man trying to do what's best for his son, while coming to terms with his own course in life and career outcome. The ideas stem from deep issues about how we build a life and come to accept its evolution, especially in comparison to our peers. The son is the gem in the movie. Austin Abrams plays him with enough awareness to make us respect him, but enough naivety to make him realistic as a teenager, including the body language and lack of words that are common in that age group. This is a fine performance, deserving of an award. Jenna Fisher does a very credible job as a responsible mother and career woman, trying to cope with her own job, her son and husband. Ben Stiller's performance leaves much to be desired. Part of the time he speaks like a grown man whose script has been reduced by filtering it through a teenager's vocabulary. All three also use the f word, which is not needed and distracts from the script. Mr. Stiller could have done a lot more to portray the maturity of a middle aged person, while still conveying the crisis in his understanding of life. He also interacts with his peers on the level of a college student, rather than a mature intellect. Overall, the script and execution of the story are weak. For concept alone, the movie could be rated high. But, the execution is only fair, leading me to rate it a 5 in total. Finally, the ending is a non ending. Someone should have brought in a movie writer to write an ending for this.

This upper middle class white guy who wishes he were an upper class white guy is not an unsympathetic character. He just is not a very interesting one but then neither are most of the other characters. The movie is not bad but I wish that I had waited for a rainy afternoon to watch it on Netflix.

I though this will be a slow paced generic Indy comedy movie with Ben Stiller with his comedy but oh boy no I was wrong. This movie is really great and kept me captivating till the end credits with beautiful song. The other actors and actresses with Ben Stiller did an excellent job in this movie and everything was natural, some humor here and there but story is engaging. I am impressed by the serious acting of Ben Stiller at this age and its really a good movie for the family to enjoy with facts and social media that is affecting our lives. I will give this movie 10 out of 10 and highly recommended to those who are depressed with their lifestyle.

This move was wonderful. It was very honest, had a wonderful audio voice over, and one of the most true father/son relationship shown in a long time on the big screen.

So raw, real, honest, I loved it. You saw the world from a mans eyes who just struggled to not necessarily find his place but justify it. The questions he poses are fair and real, but at times uncomfortable and frustrating. You get to see him walk through the frustration of a very ordinary moment in life.

Some have said it's slow. That's a positive in my books. It was perfectly timed to match the questioning and challenge the lead was facing. truly a good movie.

I thought it was poignant, and Brads story was told in a captivating way. you should watch it.

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.

Don't understand the good reviews. Was very a slow obvious drama/ comedy with an ending and moral you can coming even if your on Pluto. Nothing actually happens except for meaningless chit chat. The narration was totally confusing and overall a real snooze fest, and did I say super slowwwww

This film is on my list of the worst I have ever seen. The main character has angst to the nth degree. My wife and I both wanted to walk out multiple times but we kept thinking it would get better. It doesn't. Both my wife and I left the theater feeling very annoyed. Painful to watch, no redeeming factors. I don't understand the positive reviews. Don't waste your time or money.

Brad's Status definitely makes an effort to say something meaningful. I always like that in storytelling. At times during Brad's Status I began to think about my own choices in life (at 60+), missed opportunities, and the long and winding road from college to … It was a LOL moment when Ben Stiller was described in a bar conversation about being in his 50s and he assertively comes back with "Actually, I'm 47." I wanted to like this movie but it didn't have the courage of its convictions. Real life for almost everyone is chock full of meaningful situations and dilemmas. Why oh why did the screenwriters of this fable resort to the extremes of top 1% wealth and for God's sake Harvard University. There are thousands of high quality colleges and universities across the country that could have been the object of this young man's and his father's fantasy. Why Harvard? Maybe because that name is a shortcut for wealth, privilege, and ultimate validation in the eyes of others. The poverty of that assertion is a separate question, but in this movie there's also the existential question of pegging one's self worth compared to the perceived success of others (in this case, friends from college after thirty years). That's fine, but why not make the class difference more real world? Like maybe between a 50-something with zero in 401(k) retirement savings and someone else in his suburban neighborhood with $100,000 in the bank? Why portray the difference between upper middle class and three old friends in the top 1%? That extremism ruined the movie for me and oh yeah, the ending that meant nothing. All of this Major Motion Picture resources for nothing? Ben Stiller racks his heart and soul and comes up with nothing? Thankfully there are no car crashes, CGI, or gun violence in Brad's Status. Unfortunately, the screenwriter doesn't have anything to say in this technically well made movie.

This is an awful movie about an ungrateful little man thinking petty thoughts and that can't stand others having success.

This is the story of a man who think of the death of his wife's parents as the best way to get money.

This is a scenario from a writer with no respect for the viewer: the ticket upgrade story is illogical, the attendant would never have mentioned the price or asked for a credit card if the ticket was not up-gradable in the first place. Clearly, he takes his audience for retards.

Have you noticed that little voice in the back of your head that keeps chattering all the time? You know, the one that just asked, "What voice?" Only a short time ago, my own voice was telling me about all the people in my life that I had let down and how I had failed to live up to my own expectations. When I was able to quiet that voice, however, I could look and see how the love with which I was surrounded was more meaningful than any perceived failures. In Mike White's ("Enlightened" TV series) comedy/drama Brad's Status, 47-year-old Brad Sloan, played to perfection by Ben Stiller ("While We're Young"), is in the midst of a mid-life crisis, constantly listening to his inner monologue telling him he is a failure because he has fallen short of the material success of his old friends from college.

Brad is not a classic whiner or complainer but a decent and thoughtful person who is more than willing to look at his life and see what has not worked, though his telling us that "the world hated me, and the feeling was mutual" comes close to self pity. Novelist Yann Martel said, "Gloom is but the passing shadow of a cloud," but the cloud does not pass over Brad. Even his wife Melanie (Jenna Fischer, "The Mysteries of Laura" TV series) becomes frustrated with his neurotic insecurity when he questions her about his possible inheritance when her parents die. On the surface Brad has everything going for him - a comfortable life in Sacramento with a loving wife, a brilliant and talented musician in his son Troy (Austin Abrams, "Paper Towns"), and a satisfying job managing a non-profit company which provides services to others.

To Brad, however, the thought that his accomplishments in life do not measure up to his exaggerated picture of his college friends success haunts him as he and Troy take off to New England to visit elite colleges in the Northeast where his son has a good chance of being accepted. Cluttering Brad's thoughts and dreams are friends like Billy Wearsiter (Jemaine Clement, "The Lego Batman Movie") who retired at age forty after selling his hi-tech company and moved to Hawaii where he is living a life of leisure with women around day and night. He also thinks about film director Nick Pascale (Mike White, "The D Train") whose luxury home received a spread in Architecture Digest magazine.

There is also hedge fund manager Jason Hatifeld (Luke Wilson, "The Girl who Invented Kissing") who married into wealth and who Brad believes owns a private jet, and of course Craig Wilson (Michael Sheen, "Passengers"), a Harvard lecturer, best-selling author and TV personality for whom Brad saves his most venomous feelings. Although Brad's emotional distress is the centerpiece of the film, the film also scores in its depiction of the tense but touching father/son relationship, handled with naturalness and sensitivity. In contrast to Brad's hyper self-critical persona, Troy is easy going and unusually self confident for a teenager, though, like many teens, he expresses his feelings in monosyllables.

When Brad becomes upset with Troy when he forgets the day of his admissions interview at Harvard, the boy seems to take it all in stride. Of course, he is very grateful when dad pulls strings with his "friend" Craig who secures an appointment for Troy with both a prominent music professor at the school, and the Dean of Admissions. With Brad continuing to beat himself up for real or perceived failures, however, Troy asks his dad if he is having a nervous breakdown which seems like a reasonable assumption given Brad's mental contortions which even extend to imagining being jealous of Troy's future fame.

Brad's Status is an honest film that captures White's incisive deadpan humor and his ability to create characters who talk and act like real human beings, not cardboard caricatures. One of the high points of the film is Brad's meeting with Troy's musician friend Ananya (Shazi Raja) during a sleepless night. Without pulling punches, she confronts him about his attitude of white male privilege, asking him directly, "Do you actually know anybody who is poor?" It is a question that never receives an answer. With her admonitions ringing in his ears, he is moved to tears during Ananya's concert performance of Dvorak's "Humoresque." Brad's epiphany at the concert may reflect the dawning realization that being alive itself is cause for celebration and that who you are as a person is more important than what you have or what you do. Ultimately, White will leave it up to Brad to discover that, in the phrase of author Charles Eisenstein, "Abundance is all around us…The sky starts where the ground ends; we need only look with different eyes to realize we are already there."

Very-very-very boring movie with exceptional dull script and annoying (you can't imagine how!) soundtrack... this violin! and you know why this movie so really bad? Because all this nonsensical stupid uninteresting bla-bla- bla they do for one (1) minute when Indian girl say very cliché speech about WHITE MAN PRIVILEGE. And you know, this is not a revelation all they say in this movie, and all this leads nowhere, because you see, more important if they say about RICH MAN PRIVILEGE... but, well, they rich - because they - work and they have no moral orienteers... but wait, they give money some guys like Brad. And this colonialistic-imperialistic pigs broke caste system in India, so this Indian girl from low caste can go learn in Harward and do her bla-bla-bla about WHITE MAN PRIVILEGE. So, this is really stupid movie.