Horrible, fascist and poorly acted

Disapointment

Wow! What a bizarre film! Unfortunately the few funny moments there were were quite overshadowed by it's completely weird and random vibe throughout.

One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

In a long-standing career that has spanned a number of comedic touchstones, Ben Stiller has in his later age taken a hold of the mantle of the go to man for roles that require some middle aged musings on life, love and the great wide world.Very much continuing on this trend that has seen the funnyman shy away from the Something About Mary's and the Meet the Parent's of this world and instead feature in such films as Greenberg, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, While We're Young and The Meyerowitz Stories, Mike White's Brad's Status see's Stiller playing mid-life crisis suffering Not-For-Profit worker Brad Sloan on a trip with his son Troy, as the two begin to decide where Troy will go to college as Brad suffers from regrets and thoughts about his life weighed up against his seemingly more successful friends.Produced by Brad Pitt, there's certainly nothing new about this type of film, we've seen this thing done a million times before but there's a sincerity to White's film, both in its direction and writing and while it's not always easy to nod in agreement to Brad's internal life musings and bewailing of his life that really isn't that bad, Brad's Status remains a relatable and touching examination of what the important things in life are and that no matter how hard we try, there's no turning back the clock on our past; the decisions are made, the decisions are final.Importantly also for the film, it finds Stiller operating near the top of his game as he brings Brad to life, it's a performance that requires more than we're use to from the well-regarded performer and his interplay with Austin Abram's Troy provide the film with some of its real highlights, whether the two are simply having fun or whether they are engaged in a more confrontational manner, Brad and Troy are the heart and soul of the film and ensure that we as an audience are constantly invested in their slice of life tale.White has made sure these two centrepieces aren't alone in this character driven story as we get some brief yet memorable turns from the likes of Michael Sheen, Luke Wilson and Jemaine Clement as Brad's grown-up college buddies while female co-stars Jenna Fisher and Shazi Raja make their marks with relatively brief supporting turns.Brad's Status is the type of project that clearly resonated with its cast and it shines forth in the ensemble right the way through.Final Say - A small film in many ways but one that has some heartfelt and moving examinations of life as we know it, Brad's Status is an easy watch with an all-round collection of solid performances and is one of the best films Mike White has been a part of outside of his involvement in School of Rock, The Good Girl and cult TV show Freaks and Geeks.3 1/2 Harvard hoodies out of 5

I'll start by saying I love Ben Stiller and will watch just about any movie he is in. I did not like this movie. I thought the premise was good but the movie and storyline could have been much better. I know what they were trying to get acrosss - it just didn't work for me. It's 2 hours I'll never get back and it was a waste. IMHO

"Brad's Status" is a new American 100-minute movie from 2018 and as I really enjoyed Mike White's "Year of the Dog" over a decade ago, I was somewhat curious about this one, even if inclusions as a writer on "The Emoji Movie" for example made me a bit worried. But it is a good film and close to a must-see for everybody who likes Ben Stiller as much as I do or really loves him. The Emmy winner is in almost every scene here and makes it work most of the time. There is really a lot in here about his character as he accompanies his son to a day at Harvard where the teenager is supposed to find out if this is really the place he wants to spend the next few ydears studying. But if course, it is much more about the father character. It is about his marriage, his son, his old friends and there is also a great deal of talk about wrong idols like for example about the protagonist's mentor or about a musician the son idolizes (a bit too much perhaps). I liked it overall. It was written smartly and includes some well thought through humor that never takes away from the emotional gravity. The film does not need Stiller's character to land in bed with the young student who initially adores him so much and we also don't need a solution if he will get into Harvard eventually. I liked that they do not only depict Harvard as bad 100% and the smaller college as 100% good, but it's all in between and shades are dominant. It's about making the decision that has the least disadvantages of course. I think that maybe men in their 40s or even 50s will connect with this movie the most. It's probably a better watch for males than females. Midlife crises are a crucial subject here. Some parts will resonate more with you, others less. But I do believe that, while everybody will have other segments that have the biggest impact on them, you will not feel nothing watching the film in its entirety. I do think it is a really good character study, not only for Stiller's character, but for several others too. For example I also liked the take on the complicated concept of idealism vs. disillusion.The film's best moments are definitely better than the worst moments are bad if we are talking about a scale here. And the film really does feel natural most of the time. Stiller carries it nicely and I would love to see some awards recognition for him. The rest of the cast are strong too like for example Michael Sheen who is quite a scene stealer. Yes not all the emotional and deep moments work out nicely,, but honestly still enough of them do, so it never feels particularly pretentious. Stiller also does really fine with the voice-overs I'd say. Maybe the son actor could have been slightly better, but he isn't bad either. There were 2 or 3 moments in terms of quotes and insight into the main character's life and life in general that were pretty striking and left quite an impact on me, like the moment he says he cannot love all the women in his life that he wants to love. But like I wrote earlier, I believe these moments that are the best for you will also differ from one person to the next. So yeah, I am afraid this is a movie that will probably go a bit more under the radar than it should, but I think it is very much worth seeing and delivers with pretty much all it attempts. I also liked how the final dinner scene üuts basically everything in perspective about the people who seem to lead a great life, but still we find out they have issues and these are far from minor. And we found out the same about Sheen's character earlier. So maybe the main character's life is not as bad as he thinks indeed, even if I would not say that comparing him to starving kids in Africa is too accurate really in the grand scheme of things. Here we have one of those films you don't necessarily need to see on the big screen, but you should see them at some point. I give it a thumbs-up.

As oxymoronic as that it is, it kind of works...right? Its quirks and unique qualities is what the film takes pride in. That and its audacious themes of jealousy. Brad goes to Boston with his son to visit a variety of colleges. It turns into a trip of reflection for Brad where he starts being concerned that he has plateaued in life and rapidly grows jealous of his old college friends. A quick obsession of wanting to matter and being fuelled by success and money. Living a lavish lifestyle where you don't feel invisible to the world. Unable to see past the fact that his life is actually bountiful and more importantly he should be satisfied with his standard of living. Jealousy can decimate your mood and way of thinking, I know this far too well personally. The narrative really explores this, albeit not so subtly, but I could relate to it. I mean he seizes the opportunity to garner attention and acclaim by using his son. That's my biggest problem with the film, it's unlikeable. I didn't warm to Brad at all, and then we meet one of his old school friends (played excellently by Michael Sheen) and somehow he is more disliked than Brad! If you can't warm to the characters, even in the slightest way, it's a detriment to the emotional investment and unfortunately I did not like them at all. I understand that's the point, but the forced approach felt unrealistic. The acting from everyone was fantastic. Ben Stiller portrays jealousy to a degree of excellence where I actually, for the tiniest moment, sympathised with his character. The on screen chemistry with Brad and his son was peculiar but the lack of dialogue between them felt real, in a strange way. The cinematography was noticeably stylistic, particularly the juxtaposing clarity of the camera's focus. The dinner scene was awkward as hell and made me excessively cringe. Good job! And then bam...the film ends. Just...like...that. I tell you what, never mind about Brad's Status, Luke's Status is saying that the superficial pretentiousness overshadows an oddly enjoyable drama.