Is This Thing On?, 2025.
Directed by Bradley Cooper.
Starring Will Arnett, Laura Dern, Andra Day, Bradley Cooper, Christine Ebersole, Ciarán Hinds, Sean Hayes, Amy Sedaris, Chloe Radcliffe, Scott Icenogle, Jordan Jensen, Peyton Manning, Reggie Conquest, Tomos Eames, Gabe Fazio, Blake Kane, Calvin Knegten, Derek Gaines, and Matt Richards.
SYNOPSIS:
As their marriage unravels, Alex faces middle age and divorce, seeking new purpose in the New York comedy scene. Meanwhile, his wife Tess confronts sacrifices made for their family, forcing them to navigate co-parenting and identities.
The concept of a man who uses open mic nights and comedy clubs as an outlet to show vulnerability and air out pained personal baggage could have been a gimmick that quickly wears thin. In the hands of Philadelphia Eagles superfan and director Bradley Cooper with Is This Thing On?, those performances never take over the film, but more so serve as a guiding light for recently separated and father of two Alex Novak (Will Arnett not only stripping down his talent as a comedian into an amateur for the role, but also putting LEGO Batman’s depressed voice to good use and generally delivering an all-around emotionally raw turn) to work through complicated feelings toward his ex-wife and former Olympic athlete Tess (Laura Dern, also shining here and given more depth than expected) and why their marriage slowly crumbled apart.
For starters, the chemistry between Will Arnett and Laura Dern feels real, as if something about idyllic family life has gradually altered the dynamics of their relationship and what they once loved about each other, with those feelings slowly shifting away until only an emotional disconnect remains. There have been many arguments in the past, but fortunately, they remain on amiable talking terms, with Alex having moved out into his own living space. Sometimes, they hang out with mutual friends in a couple played by Andra Day (whom can’t stand Alex and encourages Tess to put herself out there and connect with other men) and Bradley Cooper in a role as a struggling actor that seems to be written that way so he (collaborating on the screenplay alongside Will Arnett and Mark Chappell, with the story based on events in the life of former soccer player turned comedian John Bishop) can poke fun at himself (considering how much the Internet ruthlessly mocked him, and will probably continue to do so, for wanting to make a film worthy of winning him an Oscar, as if that’s a crime).
That screenwriting team also finds an amusingly natural way for Alex to end up telling jokes on stage, simply because it would get him out of paying for an alcoholic beverage. It should also be stressed that even though the film is highly funny at times, the point of the stand-up comedy isn’t for Alex to instantly become a prodigy of the art or for Will Arnett to flex that talent. The performance forces in the flex an adjacent muscle, as someone who isn’t so much writing intentional jokes but strolling up on stage and rambling about the dissatisfaction, confusion, and sadness of his current life in an attempt to process some of it by arriving at some dark humor in telling various stories across his marriage. In doing so, these scenes are imbued with gutting, truthful honesty.
As mentioned before, Bradley Cooper knows that the movie can’t rely on an amateur for a comedy routine and wisely isn’t focused solely on Alex’s unexpected success in the art form. Instead, it’s constantly shifting back to Alex and Tess in their personal lives, with the latter taking up the advice to get back into the dating scene (a delightful cameo from a superstar in the sports world). Is This Thing On? uses stand-up comedy as a means for Alex to discover what went wrong in the marriage, prompting him to confront these issues with Tess.
In those conversations, they arrive at an admittedly cynical truth, but one that feels true to who these characters are. There are also moments in the film that are flat-out devastating, such as when Alex’s two young children, who are in the middle of preparing a performance of Under Pressure with their elementary school band, come across a folder of potential comedy material, in turn, learning more about the separation than they are prepared for.
Working again with regular cinematographer Matthew Libatique, the film includes some stylish flourishes. One is an argument between Alex and Tess, which follows the former down a hallway transitioning into a comedy stage, the only place where he feels he can be heard and work through everything in a therapeutic sense. Despite a bit of a slow start that does ratchet up as the film barrels towards an awkwardly hilarious centerpiece sequence that serves as the launching pad for more domestic drama complexity, and one moment where the frustrations and anger from Alex feels overcooked both in the writing and performance, this is Bradley Cooper mostly returning to form with the thorny type of relationship material that made his remake of A Star is Born so compelling.
With an arguably career-best performance from Will Arnett, Is This Thing On? richly navigates stand-up comedy as therapy and authentically messy relationship dynamics, all while building to beautifully moving usage of Under Pressure.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★ ★
Robert Kojder
