December 16, 2025
FILM: IS THIS THING ON?
DIRECTED BY: BRADLEY COOPER
STARRING: WILL ARNETT, LAURA DERN, BRADLEY COOPER
RATING: 3 out of 4 stars
By Dan Pal
Bradley Cooper’s first two directorial works, A Star is Born and Maestro, were both critically acclaimed and Oscar-nominated. I thought both were fine if a bit lacking in certain emotional respects. (Performances were great though.) His new film, Is This Thing On? is a decidedly smaller scale work with a bit more humor. Will Arnett and Laura Dern star as Alex and Tess Novak, a couple that is splitting up after twenty years of marriage and two young sons. Alex works in finance while Tess is a former volleyball star. When they separate, Alex walks into a comedy club and, because he doesn’t want to pay the cover, decides to go up on stage. Having never performed before, his set is essentially a confessional as he vents about the break-up. Without telling people about it, he goes back again and again finding it satisfying and relieving. The film itself though is less about his new comedy career and more about finding oneself in middle-aged with a broken marriage and family.
While a lot of this is set up in the opening half of the film, the script, which is co-written by Arnett, John Bishop and Mark Chappell, takes a while to find what it wants to say. It’s not really a comedy per se but a reflection on where these two characters find themselves at this crossroads in their lives. Now living separately, Tess is given a chance to coach volleyball again and Alex seems to balance his job (which is given virtually no detail or attention), his sons, and his comedy act. Both characters are partially redefining themselves for the first time in years.
The big question posed is whether Alex and Tess were, individually, unhappy with the marriage or just unhappy while in the marriage. It takes a while for this question, and thus the meat of the story, to reveal itself. It’s also not clear if these were the only issues in their marriage. Still, it is an interesting question to consider. Can we be happy in a marriage if we are unhappy ourselves?
Both actors are good if not overly revelatory in their roles. We do get to see more dramatic chops from Arnett and Dern gets to play a more fully developed character than the one that won her an Oscar for the more intense, and similarly themed, Marriage Story. The cast is rounded out by a bunch of very familiar faces. Bradley Cooper does a great job playing Alex’s actor friend with a wife played by Oscar-nominee Andra Day. Christine Ebersole does fine and humorous work as Alex’s mother and there are small roles played by Arnett’s Smartless co-star Sean Hayes, his real-life husband Scott Icenogle, Amy Sedaris, and Ciaran Hinds.
Cooper’s directing is generally fine. He employs a lot of tight close-ups and handheld camera work on his actors which they effectively utilize in their performances. Until a couple of final scenes, they aren’t required to go to some of the extremes actors did in his previous films though. This story is much more down to earth than either of those even though it does fall prey to some Hollywood marriage story clichés. Generally, this project is on a smaller scale than Cooper’s previous works although he does successfully battle shooting the film in a dynamic setting such as New York and makes the city feel alive and lived in. He does a great job capturing the nighttime streets and clubs which are cramped and full of energy.
Still, I was a bit underwhelmed for much of the first half. While the cast is very good and the setting is well-captured, the story doesn’t say or do a lot we haven’t seen before. I think it’s a film that does offer some potential for audiences to leave feeling satisfied but it’s likely not going to capture the Oscar attention that Cooper’s first two films did. It’s just not that kind of project.
Is This Thing On? opens in theaters this week.
FILM: IS THIS THING ON?
DIRECTED BY: BRADLEY COOPER
STARRING: WILL ARNETT, LAURA DERN, BRADLEY COOPER
RATING: 3 out of 4 stars
By Dan Pal
Bradley Cooper’s first two directorial works, A Star is Born and Maestro, were both critically acclaimed and Oscar-nominated. I thought both were fine if a bit lacking in certain emotional respects. (Performances were great though.) His new film, Is This Thing On? is a decidedly smaller scale work with a bit more humor. Will Arnett and Laura Dern star as Alex and Tess Novak, a couple that is splitting up after twenty years of marriage and two young sons. Alex works in finance while Tess is a former volleyball star. When they separate, Alex walks into a comedy club and, because he doesn’t want to pay the cover, decides to go up on stage. Having never performed before, his set is essentially a confessional as he vents about the break-up. Without telling people about it, he goes back again and again finding it satisfying and relieving. The film itself though is less about his new comedy career and more about finding oneself in middle-aged with a broken marriage and family.
While a lot of this is set up in the opening half of the film, the script, which is co-written by Arnett, John Bishop and Mark Chappell, takes a while to find what it wants to say. It’s not really a comedy per se but a reflection on where these two characters find themselves at this crossroads in their lives. Now living separately, Tess is given a chance to coach volleyball again and Alex seems to balance his job (which is given virtually no detail or attention), his sons, and his comedy act. Both characters are partially redefining themselves for the first time in years.
The big question posed is whether Alex and Tess were, individually, unhappy with the marriage or just unhappy while in the marriage. It takes a while for this question, and thus the meat of the story, to reveal itself. It’s also not clear if these were the only issues in their marriage. Still, it is an interesting question to consider. Can we be happy in a marriage if we are unhappy ourselves?
Both actors are good if not overly revelatory in their roles. We do get to see more dramatic chops from Arnett and Dern gets to play a more fully developed character than the one that won her an Oscar for the more intense, and similarly themed, Marriage Story. The cast is rounded out by a bunch of very familiar faces. Bradley Cooper does a great job playing Alex’s actor friend with a wife played by Oscar-nominee Andra Day. Christine Ebersole does fine and humorous work as Alex’s mother and there are small roles played by Arnett’s Smartless co-star Sean Hayes, his real-life husband Scott Icenogle, Amy Sedaris, and Ciaran Hinds.
Cooper’s directing is generally fine. He employs a lot of tight close-ups and handheld camera work on his actors which they effectively utilize in their performances. Until a couple of final scenes, they aren’t required to go to some of the extremes actors did in his previous films though. This story is much more down to earth than either of those even though it does fall prey to some Hollywood marriage story clichés. Generally, this project is on a smaller scale than Cooper’s previous works although he does successfully battle shooting the film in a dynamic setting such as New York and makes the city feel alive and lived in. He does a great job capturing the nighttime streets and clubs which are cramped and full of energy.
Still, I was a bit underwhelmed for much of the first half. While the cast is very good and the setting is well-captured, the story doesn’t say or do a lot we haven’t seen before. I think it’s a film that does offer some potential for audiences to leave feeling satisfied but it’s likely not going to capture the Oscar attention that Cooper’s first two films did. It’s just not that kind of project.
Is This Thing On? opens in theaters this week.