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Brad's Status
Stars: Ben Stiller, Jenna Fischer, Austin Abrams, Michael Sheen, Luke Wilson, Mike White, Jemaine Clement
Director: Mike White
Here's all-American angst, ramped up to the nth degree. An older Stiller, beginning to look like a mournful Henry Winkler, is suburban Brad, who, running a non-profit-making company in Sacramento, is suffering a more-than-minor midlife crisis.
As his son (Abrams) prepares for a Harvard interview, Brad compares his own 'humble' status to his own friends at university, all of whom now seem to be high-flyers. 'What's wrong with me?' he ponders, and he might well ask; this tetchy man is poor company through most of the film, unable to shake off the feeling that he has failed to make the most of his life.
Remembering his friends, who seem to have ignored him (no surprise there), Brad groans that, for them, the world is not a battleground, but a playground - a dream... The only true success in the group (Sheen), however, uses his influence to come to Brad's son's rescue; Sheen also takes part in the film's best scene, a dinner with Brad that comes just before the end of the film.
Sheen's charisma and subtlety of playing here knocks spots off the rest of the cast, in this very American angstathon.
David Quinlan
USA/Canada 2018. UK Distributor: Amazon Studios. Colour (unspecified).
98 minutes. Not widescreen. UK certificate: 15.
Guidance ratings (out of 3): Sex/nudity 0, Violence/Horror 0, Drugs 1, Swearing 2.
Review date: 26 Apr 2018