Movie Review: Brad’s Status

4 stars out of 5

I think writer/director Mike White and I would get on quite well. He seems smart, funny, warm-hearted, and I bet he thinks way too much. I’ve been familiar with his work since 2002’s Orange County, but I feel like he didn’t really hit his stride until the Enlightened series on HBO. Now he’s a mature filmmaker with a lot on his mind.

In Brad’s Status, the overarching theme was covered succinctly by Morrissey in his song “We Hate It When Our Friends Become Successful.” The plot has 47-year-old Brad taking his 17-year-old son on a college tour of Boston. This dredges up many complicated memories for Brad of his four college buddies, each of whom has become much more successful than him, at least in Brad’s eyes. And he hates that.

Through phone calls and imagined scenes, we meet these friends. Though they’re small parts, White has cast top-flight actors. The hilarious Jemaine from Flight of the Conchords is the buddy who retired at 40 and fled to Hawaii. Luke Wilson (also great in Enlightened) is an ultra-rich business dude. White himself, in a silent role, plays a big-time movie director whose house is on the cover of Architectural Digest. And Michael Sheen is a smug political talking head. (Also in a small but important part is Jenna Fischer as Brad’s wife.)

Ben Stiller is perfectly cast as Brad. No one is better at playing a basically good guy who is also kind of a jerk. And who thinks way too much. Austin Abrams is terrific as the son, giving a very realistic portrayal of a teen hanging out with his dad, quick to get annoyed or embarrassed. Also, he looks like a young Beck Bennett.

Brad covers a lot of ground and a lot of regrets. Should he have pursued wealth instead of his non-profit? (I was also reminded of Randy Newman’s “It’s Money That Matters.”) Did his too-easily-pleased wife hold him back? He’s losing his youth. He’s losing his son. He’s lost his friends. This is all part of Brad’s inner monologue until he meets Michael Sheen in person, and it all comes spilling out.

Music also plays a key role in the film: The son is a prodigy, and Mark Mothersbaugh is the movie’s composer (even reusing his work from Enlightened). And there are many gentle laughs. Mike White is paying attention to the world around him and the world inside his own head, and we’re all the better for it.