Brad's Status (2017)

Just perfect...

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

This movie revolves around a 50 year old guys struggle with comparing his life to his old circle of friends from college who have somehow managed to strike it rich by age 50. Of five supposedly close friends, four of them are multimillionaires with enviable lives. Brad, however feels he is not successful enough because he does not earn a seven figure income. The movie has some touching moments and tries to make you realize that being grateful for what you do have is the key to being happy/content or "satisfied" with your own life. I found the movie mildly entertaining but also a bit ludicrous in that all 4 of Brad's close friends became obscenely rich before age 50. If you can look past that, the film is watchable.

SPOILERS. This is a liberal wet-dream, and in that context was incredibly predictable. The movie tells the story of a middle-aged white guy having a mid-life crisis. He takes his kid on a visit to several colleges. He has a nice job running a non-profit, but his thoughts wander to his 4 college friends who are more wealthy and successful than him. During his predictable journey he learns that his friends all have problems worse than his. He bonds with his kid. In the end he concludes that his like is a-okay. Marvelous, right?But let's think about how he arrives at the destination of his journey.Act 1: Brad is filled with a sense of failure. He is envious of his friends. The director sets up the friends as wealthy and happy. Of course they are. One consults with the White House and wrote a bestseller. Another is a famous director. The third is a wealthy hedge fund manager. The last has sold his business and retired at 40 to Hawaii where he runs around with two young girls. How could we not feel envy, right? Brad is missing out and his life is a failure.Act 2: Brad's son has an appointment to visit Harvard, but he got the date wrong. His appointment was yesterday. Oops! So Brad calls his friend who works in the White House because he also teaches at Harvard. Great! The friend gets Brad's kid and appointment with the Dean of Admissions and an interview with a music teacher. It goes great, but the son is not impressed. They aren't "cool" like he thought they would be. Brad is angry at his snot-nosed millennial kid who thinks he knows it all. Brad and his kid meer up with some friends of his kid who go to Harvard. Young hot musicians. Brad creeps on them. It is awkward. Brad sneaks out at night to meet one of the girls at a bar. It is weird. Brad tells he to stop being an idealist and just go make money. She loses respect for him and calls him "white privilege."Act 3: Brad meets his friend (the White House) guy for dinner at a swanky restaurant to thank him for the interviews. Brad is feeling left out because he's lost touch with the guys. And here is where all predictions come true. The White House/author is a real jerk. He runs down all his friends. The guy in Hawaii is a drud addict and alcoholic. A real bad dude. The hedge fund manager is is a crook and under investigation. Of course he is! "You can't get that rich unless your a thief." The director is a flaming gay guy who uses his home for a "sci-fi gay porno" lifestyles. So this reveals that the White House guy is a real homophobe. Yep! Why wouldn't he be. Brad leaves the restaurant. "We aren't even friends anymore. I don't even know you." Brad rushes to his kid and the story conclude with Brad realizing that he has an amazing life. Ta-da!This movie brings out all the liberal tropes. All his friend's wealth = bad. Hedge fund = bad. Bad guys make homophobic slurs, no jokes allowed. But Brad creeping on the young girls; not so bad, just part of the journey. Lots of white privilege nonsense. Idealism is better than money. Money = white privilege. And Brad has to learn this from the strong female minority women. "Stay golden, Pony-Boy!" Am I right? And Brad's son swears like a drunken sailor. He drops f-bombs at his dad like it's not a problem. He just so hip and cool and talented. In the end, we really learn that Brad is a creep. Brad is filled with envy, pride, lustful thoughts, and doesn't recognize all the good in his life. He arrives at redemption because he realizes that all his idols, those with money and fame are all homophones, drunks, drug addicts, thief's and awful people. He learns about life from the young, incredibly intelligent, enlighten, talented, minority women who teache him about his white privilege. And he also learns from his cussing son. "What the f*** is wrong with you dad?" So it all comes together in the end. Of all his friends, Brad is the one who had success. A success of the spirit.

Ben Stiller is a fine actor and the young actor who played his son did a great job but I could not shake the feeling I was watching some updated version of Michael Scott from The Office. And that feeling has nothing to do with Jenna Fischer's presence. She's likable as well. The character of Brad made me cringe. More than once I wanted to scream "SHUT UP and stop talking for two minutes. I was happy when this was over. It was depressing.

(Flash Review)Brad has some learning and maturing to do even as a man in his fifties. As he embarks on a college tour trip with his son (one being Harvard of course), he begins to compare himself some of his college friends who are literally in the top 1% and he begins to feel jealous and that he hasn't amounted to... enough. As he begins to reconnect with some, he learns that their lives are as rosy as they may seem. Perhaps his upper middle class life with intelligent and kind son is actually pretty good. Will he figured that out? What college will his son her into? This movie is certainly aimed at parents out on a dinner and movie date. Maybe in today's modern society that is so focused on material happiness and living like a celebrity this is sadly somewhat needed for some to recalibrate what matters in life.