Brad’s Status
(USA, 101 min.)
Written and directed by Mike White
Starring: Ben Stiller, Austin Abrams, Jenna Fischer, Michael
Sheen, Luke Wilson, Jemaine Clement
Programme: Platform (World Premiere)
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| Courtesy of TIFF |
Ben Stiller renews himself as an actor in Brad’s Status. The Zoolander star dives into his deepest role yet as Brad Sloan, an
affable fortysomething who finds himself in a midlife crisis when his
comfortable, if completely safe, life in Sacramento seems bland in comparison
to the updates of his college buddies. The actor finds in Brad Sloane what Jim
Carrey had in Truman Burbank and Andy Kaufman—a comedic character with just a
few more dramatic edges to fully show off his chops. Brad’s old chums are
objects of envy for their cushy gigs, early retirements, private jets, exciting
weddings, and supermodel wives and Stiller marinates in Brad’s dissatisfaction
like an über-cranky George Bailey.
Brad finds himself on this soul-searching reappraisal of his life when he should be helping his son, Troy (Austin Abrams), choose the right path for his own life. Father and son go on a college tour to consider Troy’s possibilities, including a cushy program at Harvard that might not be too lofty an ambition if Troy plays his application just right. This college tour offers a trip down memory lane for Brad as he considers the path not taken. What feels like comfort and modest success—a respectable non-profit start-up, a loving wife (Jenna Fischer), and a good son—now seems like settling.
Brad’s status needs to change, but moping about it doesn’t
do him, or Troy, any good. He goes into super-awkward-cringe-worthy-dad mode as
Troy tours campuses. Offering unnecessary lectures, fawning over co-eds, and
venting at the most inappropriate moments, Brad looks to be flying off the
rails quickly. Despite the impending car crash, it’s hard to look away.
More than once do the unfortunate ears that get caught in
the crosshairs of Brad’s self-pity point out how good he has it in life. His
jealous visions of his former buddies’ success, on the other hand, might all be
fantasies conjured in his own mind. As Brad encounters the divides between the
life he wants and the life he has, the film offers a basic and earnest question
that we all need to encounter sooner than later: how much do we need from life
in order to be happy?
It’s a fair question to ask and writer/director Mike White
probes contemporary perceptions of status and merit that are in overdrive in
today’s hyper-vanity plague of selfies and social media. White’s perceptive
character study illustrates the ways in which our ideas of success fluctuate
according to “Likes!” and impressions or, worse, how all these status updates inspire
us to imagine fantasy lives instead of enjoying the life before us.
Brad’s Status
marks the sophomore feature from White as a director after Year of the Dog and creating the TV series Enlightened with Laura Dern. It’s a respectable continuation of his
work as a director, but it’s far more interesting to see his hand as a writer
on the heels of his other (and, perhaps, stronger) release this year, Beatriz at Dinner. Brad and Beatriz both
interrogate contemporary social attitudes through intimate character studies
that perceive the world through the eyes of a troubled soul who feels
increasingly at odds with the life that he or she sees. Whereas Brad has every
reason to be content and, arguably, encounters what a few secondary characters
dub “First World Problems,” Beatriz, played by Salma Hayek in one of the year’s
best performances, finds herself a victim in an America in which white
privilege deals a stacked deck.
One wishes that White had followed a cue from Beatriz at Dinner director Miguel Arteta
who harnessed Salma Hayek’s fully realized performance to convey all these
tensions and anxieties on her weary and expressive face. Stiller’s performance
is every bit as committed as Hayek’s is, but Brad’s Status relies a bit too heavily on narration that voices
Brad’s insecurity. The voiceover certainly captures Brad’s mile-a-minute
neuroses and humorous observations on PC culture, yet when the film ends with
an unexpectedly emotional shot of Stiller silently taking stock of Brad’s life
and the years that lie before him, there’s a difference between showing and
telling leaves one wishing the film did a bit more of the former and less of
the latter.
White has a very good hand with actors, though, and Brad’s Status finds a winning ensemble
from its lead to the bit players. Abrams gives a true breakthrough performance
as Troy with a natural turn as an angsty, brooding teen who can’t hide his mix
of love and embarrassment in his dad’s presence. The quartet of stars playing
Brad’s college friends—Luke Wilson, Jemaine Clement, White himself, and most
notably Michael Sheen in one of his better turns—challenge the way we see Brad
by presenting characters far more likable and fallible than Brad characterizes
them in voiceover. One must also note the inclusivity of the casting in Brad’s Status since White and company
make an admirable effort to diversify the cast as much as possible outside of
Brad’s inner circle. The film uses the range of talent on display as part of
the joke, too, as it draws upon our perceptions of ourselves as cultured people
with some degree of wokeness acting as a measure of our success. Brad’s Status is ultimately Stiller’s
show, though. His character isn’t an easy guy to like, but despite Brad’s mopey
self-pity, Stiller’s heartfelt turn keeps us rooting for Brad to wake up.
Brad’s Status opens
in theatres September 2017.
