I saw Brad's Status for the first time tonight at the Art Mission theater. I thought it was a very good film. It really put into film many of the emotions and thoughts of someone in middle age. Or anyone who is dealing with troubling thoughts or emotions. I have been reading up on how to deal with aging myself. There are numerous internet articles about life in your 30's or 40's or older or younger. None of them presents them with such emotion and reality as this film does.
At first I was a little negative about the voice over. Then it won me over. It is rare that a film uses voice over. This was one of the films of recent memory that uses voice over to reveal Ben Stiller's character's thoughts. It really does provide insight into what a middle age man is thinking. His career problems. His social anxieties.
After the film reaches the point of visiting Harvard and Tufts, I got the impression that Stiller's character was actually more of a villain than someone to empathize with. All of his fears and anxieties were just his exaggerated imagination. It's no wonder he wasn't invited to the wedding of one of his friends. And when his famous writer friend brings him to the reality that he has avoided he reacts so negatively. He leaves in the middle of their dinner. It becomes obvious that Stiller's character was living in an imaginary world of suffering that he had created to make himself feel better. Maybe he was suffering from depression?
When he is in conversation with his son's friend he is brought back to reality again. She asks him, "do you even know any poor people?" and reacts similarly. He denies reality and wants to continues in the false belief that he is a victim. That no one except himself has problems in life. He is selfish and doesn't show the least bit of empathy. He complains that he feels rejected at dinner parties. He doesn't even think of people who never get invited to dinner parties or are starving or living in poverty.
I think Brad's Status shows symptoms of our time. Feeling like a victim. Refusing to see the wider World. Becoming so self obsessed that everyone else is better then you. Not realizing that everyone gives up something to become what they are. Everyone experiences regret or failure. Everyone has imagined themselves as something else, something better.
A great film that depicts life in America. A great character too. Stiller plays it terrifically.
