Brad's status
"Brad's Midlife Crisis" tells a story: Brad's son is about to take the college entrance examination. He accompanied his son to the Boston college campus and accepted a college interview by the way. Boston is also home to Brad's alma mater, which is a bit of a revisit. It's just such a common thing that it can hardly be called a "story". The only thing that was a little irritating was that the college that interviewed his son was Harvard. And his son missed the interview. When his son missed an interview at Harvard, Brad did everything he could to fix it, and in the process he re-examined his life.
The film begins the night before Brad drops the kids off to Boston. He fell asleep. He thinks of his classmates, and the life he might have had. Classmates are either rich or famous—some become Hollywood directors and live extravagant lives; some have their own hedge funds and travel by private jets; some are talented and appear in celebrity magazines; some make enough money, Retired at the age of 40, surrounded by beautiful beach and sunshine all day success in the eyes. And what about Brad? He's in philanthropy, running a non-profit charitable company with just one employee, who quits at the start of the film.
Thinking of all the successful classmates and comparing his current situation, he felt a failure. He said to his wife: "We have no other possibilities, we have stabilized." Not only did he deny his career choice, but he also felt that his youth was gone. He regretted it. He felt lost.
His son's missed date for his Harvard interview is the epitome of that miss. He did everything in his power to try and save. For this reason, he had to face the person he least wanted to see - Craig. This is also the person he most wanted to be at the beginning of the film. He has published more than half professional and half popular books, is a senior adviser to the White House, and often appears on TV as a guest and expert, and has a prominent reputation.
Brad just felt inferior at first. He doesn't contact his classmates, he is closed in his own circle, and his ideas are solidified. The English name of the film is Brad's Status (literally translated as "Brad's Status"). In fact, this kind of self-denial and self-closure is the worst state.
This trip to Boston, along with being forced to connect with old schoolmates, changed that for him. But it was another character who really made him look and reflect on himself thoroughly. On the eve of the interview, Brad accompanied his son to meet a Harvard girl, his son's senior. The girl also happened to be majoring in political science, the same major as Brad. When it comes to Craig, the girl is very disdainful, showing Craig's arrogant and domineering side from the side. "After taking his class, I don't even want to take this major!" This is the ultimate evaluation of Harvard girls on this celebrity.
Brad lost sleep again that night. He came to the pub and ran into Harvard girls who were organizing a protest. She asked him what advice he had: "If you go back in time and give yourself some advice, what would you say?" This is probably everyone's dream, going back to the past and correcting the unsatisfactory life. How many movies use time-travel Dafa to help people realize this dream. Brad offers very utilitarian advice to Harvard girls. He could feel her disappointment and disapproval, but he continued, and she listened. Taking this opportunity, he summed up his life: he made a mistake in his career choice, he once wanted to be a journalist, but caught up with the Internet age, the industry shrunk; he founded an electronic magazine in San Francisco, but the public did not want to read it anymore Long article; he won the Peabody Award (the oldest and most prestigious award in the global broadcast media industry), but the company went out of business. He chose to be a non-profit charity company, but people were reluctant to donate money and avoided him, not even calling him at old school reunions. He felt that in the eyes of others, he was a complete failure. He was also an idealist. He was honorably defeated.
Such a narrative is dull and generally avoided in movies. But sometimes telling is like crossing, powerful. After patiently listening to Brad's remarks, the Harvard girls did not comfort or agree. She thinks Brad already has a lot. She talks about poverty in New Delhi (the actor is Asian, though dark), about needless competition. She disagreed with Brad's self-assessment, "You have enough."
lyrical moderation
The film does not have traditional narrative routines, and is filled with a lot of inner monologues, which are often deliberately avoided by screenwriters. The inner monologue of this film is not dull and boring at all, and the background music and fresh photography greatly reduce the disadvantage of the monologue. Writer-director Mike White specializes in musical themes and is the screenwriter of "School of Rock" and "Pitch Perfect 3." The overall performance of the film is fresh and good, and it is inseparable from the screenwriter. Especially the lyric of the film is impressive.
Lyricism is the salt and taste of literary works. It's a bit like eating out at a restaurant. When life is distressed or has just improved, I always want to have some thick flavors and some excitement when I go to a restaurant. Braised pork, grilled oysters, spicy skewers, crayfish... These are all things that you can't usually eat. The same is true of movies. If you don’t watch movies often, what do you want to watch when you rush into the cinema? The hot group fights, the one-to-ten heroes, the unswerving romance, the beauty of the country and the city... these are all things that are not usually seen. But after life improves, I eat a lot of thick flavors, and there will always be times when I get tired. The same is true of movies, too many sensory stimulation, too dense plot twists, too much emotional catharsis, such movies can achieve amazing box office in a certain period (life has just improved, ticket prices are lower, winter and summer vacations, and holidays). However, in terms of artistic expression, there is still a long way to go. Although the Chinese aesthetic tradition has a vulgar mentality and a pursuit of glory and wealth, subtlety is the mainstream. "Happy but not promiscuous, sad but not sad", he pays attention to restraint in emotion, and pays attention to blank space in art.
"Brad's Midlife Crisis" is very restrained, very good. Although it is a comedy in the genre, there is nothing in the whole film that can make you laugh, let alone roar, fire, and tears. The climaxes of the film are inconspicuous and unrecognizable, presumably because Brad can't stand Craig's arrogance and leaves the table in anger. That was the most "crisis" moment for Brad in the whole film. From a worldly perspective, he was defeated completely.
Green Humor
The final lyric also echoes this scene and is very restrained. After leaving, Brad rushed to the concert hall to listen to the Harvard girls' performance. There was a symphony orchestra on the stage, a Harvard girl played the flute in front, and another Asian girl played the violin next to it. They played Dvorak's Humor. The screenwriter is very skillful in using "Humor Song" here. Although this song is called "Humorous Song", it sounds relaxed and comfortable, with a light mood, as if it can make people dance. It sounds green. This is a song of spring, or rather, a song of youth.
Brad resisted the turbulence in his heart and wept silently. Such a gentle scene, a ditty, a few tears, is very touching. Why is he crying? He came back from a state of non-youth. The previous self-denial, dark and hopeless, is called failure. Now, after facing everything he once wanted to avoid, he found himself, and it felt like the aftermath of a catastrophe.
What he found was self-confidence and dignity.
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