Ben Stiller Movie ‘Brad’s Status’ is All of Us

In the movie “Brad’s Status,” Brad is a guy in his late forties obsessed with his position, or lack thereof, in life. Brad’s married, has a job and a house, not tons of money but enough of it, and yet he spends his days stalking his college buddies on social media. Through pictures and status updates, he fantasizes about how successful they are and all the ways that he is not.

One friend manages a large hedge fund; another is a famous political commentator; one’s a Hollywood director; and another sold his tech company and retired to Hawaii before age 40. Meanwhile, Brad is stuck in Sacramento. He’s got a wife and kid and runs a non-profit nobody gives a shit about. He’s conventional and boring, the upper middle class shmuck who has everything, but still wants more.

The movie pivots around Brad taking his son across the country so he can visit colleges. As a kid, Brad wanted to attend Yale, but ‘settled’ for Tufts. The son, meanwhile, thinks he’ll get into Yale; heck, he’ll probably go to Harvard. This makes Brad exceptionally happy, but in a weird way, also jealous. He starts thinking one day his son might be more successful than he is, and that kills him.

At Harvard, Brad gets a lesson in how fortunate he actually is. One night, while his son sleeps, he goes drinking with a young girl, a friend of his son’s, now…