Ben Stiller’s Sad Dad Has a Mid-Life Crisis in First Trailer for ‘Brad’s Status’
Ben Stiller’s latest role is a middle-aged guy reflecting on the missed opportunities and regrets of his youth, mourning the life he could’ve had. No, this isn’t When We’re Young, the Noah Baumbach film where Stiller tapped into nostalgia and new-age hipster-dom with ayahuasca trips alongside Adam Driver. It’s Brad’s Status, the latest from School of Rock, The Good Girl, and Orange Country writer (not to mention one of the scribes behind The Emoji Movie) Mike White.
Brad’s Status is White’s second directorial feature, a dramedy about Stiller’s titular Brad, a father who has a mid-life crisis when he goes on a college scouting trip with his teenage son (Austin Abrams). The first trailer, soundtracked to LCD Soundsystem and Bowie and Queen’s “Under Pressure,” follows Brad and his son across Ivy League college campuses where Brad realizes his son’s potential, and how little he’s made of his own life. He hits peak sad dad drinking beers in a college bar where a pretty young college student (who probably reminds him of the girl that got away) tells it to him straight. Then he sheds some tears during a play, a true sign of sad dad deliverance. It looks like a fairly typical white-dude-has-mid-life-crisis-before-realizing-happiness-was-in-front-of-him-all-along type joint, but hey, maybe something poignant will come out of it.
The film also stars Jenna Fischer as Brad’s wife, and Luke Wilson, Michael Sheen, and Jemaine Clement as the successful old friends Brad’s now envious of. White has a promising track record as a screenwriter, so this could turn out to be a surprising fall gem. Brad’s Status hits theaters September 15.