REVIEW. "Is This Thing On?" Explores Stand-up Comedy as Divorce Therapy.

Will Arnett in Bradley Cooper's Is This Thing On?

I hate it when movie titles end with punctuation. It makes writing a review all that more challenging, especially when the title is a question. I'll stop whining now. Bradley Cooper's intimate portrait about the trauma of divorce raises more questions than the simplistic one in its title, a reference to the kind of query an amateur thrust onto a stage might make when being handed a mic: "Is this thing on?" You get the idea.

Bolstered by two strong performances from the separated couple in question - Alex and Tess Novak (Will Arnett and Laura Dern) - Is This Thing On? is Bradley Cooper's third directorial effort (he also co-wrote the script with Arnett and Mark Chappell). It's also a bit of a departure from his two previous movies - 2018's A Star is Born and 2023's Maestro - in terms of scope and the kind of sweeping romanticism embodied by its main characters whose lives in both movies were driven by musical genius, personal demons and fame.

This film is smaller, grittier, more introspective and ordinary in terms of plot and circumstance, yet deeper in its exploration of individual loss and healing. Cooper wisely frames many of his scenes in small spaces that use close-ups to illuminate the dynamic between characters. Will Arnett is especially effective in the role of Alex, a long-married financier who finds himself suddently, quietly facing being single. As his awkward impromptu first experience with stand-up suggests, his separation was almost non-descript: no shocking event or belligerent argument preceeded his split from Tess, and his comment that his first clue that he was getting divorced was realizing he lived in a different place from his wife and children is no exaggeration. Wry and self-deprecating, but not especially shocking.

Stand-up as therapy is not a new concept, and Cooper wisely avoids any notion that Alex's comfort sharing his situation with strangers is somehow extraordinary. Instead, he integrates Alex's healing with his current estrangement from Tess, allowing Alex to experience genuine moments of self-discovery and, in the process, showing Tess a different side of his personality or, perhaps more accurately, a part of him she hasn't seen in a long time. Dern, who continues to elevate any movie in which she participates, secures a natural connection with Arnett, making their scenes together feel authentic: touched by both the familiarity long-married couples have acquired and the poignancy knowing that their relationship has slowly disintegrated. Director Cooper seems to have a natural rapport with actors, always pulling out just the right nuance in each performance. Whether his luck with the AMPAS will continue as it has in the past - A Star is Born received eight Oscar nominations and won one; Maestro received seven - is hard to predict, as Is This Thing On? has not been at the forefront of early regional or critical nominations.

Cooper has said this was the fastest he's ever completed a script and, in some ways, it shows. Except for its laser focus on Alex and, by extension, Tess, the movie's supporting characters are mostly superfluous and, to some degree, wasted. Even Cooper's role as Balls (yes, you read that correctly), Alex's best friend, seems to exist for the director's edification and not as a significant voice in the story. And cameos by Peyton Manning (as Tess's date) and Sean Hayes (along with real-life husband Scott Icenogle), are squandered.

And then there's the issue of affluence: Alex and Tess are clearly educated, upper middle class New Yorkers whose separation seems as natural and unobtrusive as a walk in the park. Alex shows no difficulty securing an apartment that's big enough for his two sons to visit, and Tess's life appears to have moved on with nary a bump. Are we to conclude that divorce is easier if money isn't an issue, that financial security masks emotions when facing a personal crisis? Cooper doesn't really say, so we're mostly left to fill in the blanks.

Once in awhile, though, a line as simple as it is searing, or a moment frozen on a character's face, as when Tess unknowingly wanders into the comedy club where Alex is performing, provide a glimpse into all the tiny things that have led them to the conclusion that they're "doing this, then?" Their future at times seems as uncertain as Alex's punchlines.

It's too bad that Cooper didn't have the time or inclination for a rewrite because there is some good stuff here, similar to - but more light-hearted than - Noah Baumbach's 2019 film, Marriage Story. Cooper's on the right track with his almost improvisional, raw style here, but I was left feeling that some of the movie's themes were unfinished, its story still a bit adrift, as the credits rolled, which it not to say this is a bad film. Is This Thing On? isn't as polished as Cooper's other films, but he continues to demonstrate intelligence as a filmmaker, and a real understanding of film as an art form. I look forward to what he does next.

What we're left with is a sort of undeveloped abstract of what could have been a more successful examination about the complex layers of emotion that create a marriage and the even greater dissection of those feelings when it ends.

Can Alex and Tess save their fractured union? Will they get back together?

Who knows?

*******

Is This Thing On? is currently playing in limited release in theaters. It is rated "R" for sex, drugs and, according to the NYTimes, "overly literal rock and roll."

Coming next: MJ's Best of 2025.