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03/15/2018 12:01 AMStar Ben Stiller (The Secret Life of Walter Mitty and Zoolander) gives a solid performance as a middle-aged man experiencing a crisis of confidence in the Amazon Original Film, Brad’s Status. Written and directed by Mike White (The Good Girl and School of Rock), who also stars in the film in a minor role, Brad’s Status is an introspective—and often slow-moving—film that borders on annoying given the main character’s tendency to whine and indulge in self-pity.
On the eve of a trip from his home in Sacramento to Boston to tour colleges with his son, Troy (Austin Abrams of Paper Towns and The Kings of Summer), Brad Sloan begins to wrestle with a tremendous amount of self-doubt. He begins to question whether he has made the right decisions in his life and in his career. Most powerful are his doubts when comparing himself to his old college friends, all of whom have gone on to become wealthy and/or famous.
Brad is incredibly down on himself despite having experienced what many others would consider to be a lot of success personally and professionally. He is married to a loving woman (Jenna Fischer of The Giant Mechanical Man and TV’s The Office); he raised a smart and talented son with whom he has a close relationship; he owns a beautiful home; and he runs his own non-profit, which does a lot of good for a lot of people. Still, Brad doubts himself and the doubt carries on and on throughout the course of the film.
There is very little humor in Brad’s Status and there is also very little drama. Mostly, viewers are subjected to listening to the film’s protagonist whine and carry-on about his life (which is a pretty good one, by the way), as he compares himself to his old college buddies. There are some touching moments in the film when Brad is able to see past his own whininess and zero in on what is truly important, namely his incredibly mature teenage son and his patient, kind wife. There is also a bit of a payoff at the end during a scene when Brad is out to dinner with an old friend, but it comes much too late in the film to make up for the boredom and banality that precedes it for over an hour.
In Addition
Netflix is set to begin streaming a new version of the classic family film Benji, beginning Friday, March 16. Originally released in 1974, Benji is the story of two kids who strike up a friendship with an orphaned puppy. That very friendship helps to get the children out of a very dangerous situation. Benji is sure to become a family favorite for the current generation of Netflix-loving kids just as it was a favorite of kids in the ’70s and ’80s, which makes Netflix’s option to later add sequels or a series very likely.
Also new to Netflix beginning Friday, March 30 is the original romantic comedy Happy Anniversary starring Noel Wells and Ben Schwartz. The film centers on a young couple who are at a crossroads, trying to decide whether or not to stay together or call it quits. The story is told over a single day—the couple’s three year wedding anniversary—and through a series of flashbacks, highlighting how the couple arrived at this point in their relationship.
Hulu’s much anticipated new six-episode series, Hard Sun, recently began streaming earlier this month. In the Hulu-BBC co-produced series, two London detectives are forced to confront numerous crises including an impending natural disaster that could end all life on earth within a handful of years.