For his first two movies as writer and director, Bradley Cooper cast himself in the starring role of tortured musical genius, with some degree of success: Both 2018’s A Star Is Born and 2023’s Maestro received a number of Oscar nominations and a reasonable degree of critical praise. His third film, Is This Thing On?, is also about performance, as Cooper dives into the world of standup comedy. However, in exploring the human need to perform and connect, he finds something fresh to say here.
When we first meet the middle-aged Alex (Will Arnett), he and Tess (Laura Dern) are in the early stages of navigating their separation as a soon-to-be-ex-couple. They’re communicating as much as they can, doing everything right for their two sons, and not making their mutual friends choose sides. They also appear to be financially stable in a way that removes a lot of stress from the process. But it’s still hard for Alex, living on his own in the city while his family remains in the suburbs, and he doesn’t really have an outlet for expressing that.
Some people might consider therapy — Alex instead eats a weed cookie and stumbles across an open mic night at a comedy club. His first time on stage is a mess, but he immediately finds catharsis in spilling his guts to strangers in the hopes of making them laugh. Plus, the other comedians he meets that night are very open about how bad he was, but they also offer him support and kindness. It’s hardly a shock that he immediately comes back for more.
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The machinations that lead to Alex’s first time on stage stretch believability a bit. For one thing, Cooper sets the scene at New York City’s The Comedy Cellar, the venue made famous by — amongst other things — Louis CK’s FX series Louie. In reality The Comedy Cellar has no open mic night — it’d be like Grand Ole Opry being open for amateurs once a week.
However, the common wisdom about standup is that it’s an art form you need to do for at least 10 years before you’re truly good at it. Accordingly, one of the best aspects of Is This Thing On? is that Alex is not treated like a genius or savant — though he improves upon his first semi-embarrassing time on stage, he’s still struggling throughout. What matters is that his new interest in standup helps him get closer to understanding what, exactly, led to his separation from Tess. Spoiler alert: His own issues might have contributed to the problem.
Beyond flashback scenes in the animated series BoJack Horseman, Will Arnett doesn’t have much standup experience, but that lack of experience isn’t why his performance is so memorable here: As an actor, it’s his best work to date. The Divorced Man shows up a lot in film and television, but Arnett’s particular approach involves a real degree of honesty, and Alex’s experiences feel grounded in relatable emotions. (Arnett, who has been divorced twice, co-wrote the screenplay with Cooper and Mark Chappell — he also has a story credit.)
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Is This Thing On? (Searchlight Pictures)
Most importantly, there are no bad guys here, and as Tess, Laura Dern gets less screen time but an almost equal amount of the narrative’s weight. Overall, Dern and Arnett play nicely off each other, capturing the frustration, sadness, and affection that get tangled up in a dissolving relationship — the affection in particular making their moments together all the more bittersweet.
Tess’s narrative is a bit unexpected: In her younger years, she was an Olympic-level volleyball player, and is now considering a return to the sport as a coach for the U.S. Women’s team. It’s at least a backstory that I haven’t seen in any other movies, and contributes to a fascinating misunderstanding between Alex and Tess that unlocks a major issue in their relationship.
Tess being a former athlete doesn’t quite explain Peyton Manning’s casting as Laird, the first man Tess dates post-separation, but somehow it works in context. And he fades appropriately into the background at exactly the right time in the movie: It’s inevitable that Tess will eventually find out about Alex doing standup about their marriage, but the way she finds out leads to some of Dern’s finest acting work to date. And yes, that’s definitely saying a lot.
Most importantly, the director doesn’t get in her way, or anyone else’s. Whereas Cooper put maybe too many visual flourishes into Maestro, his biggest choice as director with Is This Thing On? is an emphasis on handheld cinematography, the camera getting real intimate with Alex during his times on stage. It’s a distinctive approach compared to other movies about comedy — though it’s pretty funny to imagine just how close the lens must have been to Arnett’s face during filming.
Cooper limits himself to a supporting role as Alex and Tess’s friend Balls (seriously), a struggling actor whose own marriage features serious ups and downs — it’s a smart choice, one that doesn’t pull focus from the narrative while giving Cooper a real chance to play.
It also speaks to the most exciting aspect of Is This Thing On?: As personal as some of this material feels, it feels like a real collaboration of artists, all enabling Cooper to tell a heartfelt story with universal scope. Cooper’s not one of our finest filmmakers, but like Alex, he’s getting better with each effort. And whether you’re talking about relationships, comedy, or life itself, effort counts for a lot.
Is This Thing On? takes the theatrical stage on Friday, December 19th. Check out the trailer below.
