Taglines: The success you’ve been searching for may be right next to you.
While Brad Sloan (Ben Stiller) works for a non-profit organization, he imagines how his friends Craig Fisher (Michael Sheen), Billy Wearslter (Jemaine Clement), Jason Hatfield (Luke Wilson), and Nick Pascale (Mike White) are rich and accomplished. He is struggling with money and thinks about his in-laws dying and his inheriting some money. His wife Melanie (Jenna Fischer) tries to comfort Brad, telling him that they don’t need to compare themselves to the wealthiest 1%.
In the morning, Brad and his son, Troy (Austin Abrams), leave for Boston to visit colleges. After arriving at Harvard to meet with admissions, they find out they have missed the appointment by one day. Brad argues to see the admission committee, but Troy gets him to back down. At a restaurant, Brad calls several of his old friends to get the number of Craig, a visiting professor at Harvard. After talking to him, Craig gets Troy a meeting with the famous Harvard music professor and the dean of admissions.
Brad and his son meet Ananya (Shazi Raja), a high school musician friend of his son, and her friend Maya (Luisa Lee). After having dinner with them, Brad and Troy turn down the offer of drinks with them and return to their hotel. That night, Brad can’t sleep so he decides to have a drink with Ananya. He tells her that the non-profit life was a mistake and he should have tried to make money. Ananya lets him know that he is living the white man’s privilege and that there are kids she knows in India who are lucky to have dinner, so he should be grateful for what he has in his life.
Brad’s Status is a 2017 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Mike White and starring Ben Stiller, Austin Abrams, Michael Sheen, Jenna Fischer, and Luke Wilson. It premiered on September 9 at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival in the juried Platform section, and was theatrically released by Amazon Studios on September 15, 2017.
Brad’s Status (2017)
Directed by: Mike White
Starring: Ben Stiller, Austin Abrams, Jenna Fischer, Michael Sheen, Jemaine Clement, Luke Wilson, Shazi Raja, Luisa Lee, Mike White, Felicia Shulman, Adam Capriolo, Jane Wheeler, Xavier Grobet
Screenplay by: Mike White
Production Design by: Richard Hoover
Cinematography by: Xavier Grobet
Film Editing by: Heather Persons
Costume Design by: Alex Bovaird
Set Decoration by: Julie DeRose, Paul Hotte, Ginette Robitaille
Art Direction by: Marie-Soleil Dénommé, Craig K. Lewis, Zoe Sakellaropoulo
Music by: Mark Mothersbaugh
MPAA Rating: R for language.
Distributed by: Amazon Studios
Release Date: September 15, 2017
