Bradley Cooper’s third directorial feature, Is This Thing On?, is a more low-key and down-to-earth tale of one man’s middle-aged venture into standup comedy. Loosely based on the life of Liverpudlian comedian John Bishop, this story is gentle and rough around the edges about martial separation and finding yourself amid divorce.
Alex (Will Arnett) and Tess (Laura Dern) look like they have the dream life. He works in finance, and she is a former volleyball champion living with their two sons in a charming suburb of New York. Yet they can’t make their marriage work anymore. There are no scandals or deceit, the pair have just drifted apart as they approach middle age.
Is This Thing On? Avoids Wasting Time On Preamble
Is This Thing On? starts with the couple announcing to their children (both 10 and humorously referred to as Irish twins) that they are splitting. The split is so amicable that the pair end up at a dinner party with their friends, who seem much less together than they are. The film jumps past any preamble and straight into trying to adjust to life without your spouse of two decades. There are no arguments, no fighting, no divorce attorneys, just two people unable to make it work. Somehow, it’s more heartbreaking to watch a couple slowly realise their marriage is crumbling.
Alex and Tess’s friend group consists of stoner Christine (Andra Day) and eccentric Balls (Cooper) and gay newlyweds Stephen (Sean Hayes) and Geoffrey (Hayes’ real-life husband Scott Icenogle). This opening scene indicates that Alex and Tess are the pleasant but boring pairing in the group.
On the way home from this gathering, a stoned Alex stops in a central New York bar. In a bid to skip the $15 entrance free, he signs up to perform standup comedy during an open mic night. This club attracts the type of comedians who mine their own life for material, so Alex mimics this when he gets on stage, still high, and tells the crowd all about his divorce. It’s not a perfect routine but he generates enough laughs to hook Alex to the feeling.
Alex embarks on a double life. By day, he works in finance (nothing more than a generic industry is specified) and co-parents his two sons, and by night, he runs to New York to perform standup. He finds a true community among the comedians (played by real-life standups: Derek Gaines, Amy Sedaris, and Jordan Jensen), who welcome him into their tribe with open arms. He uses the stage as a way to vent his frustrations about the breakdown of his marriage. This likely explains why he hides it from Tess and his children.
A Film Less About Comedy And More About Men’s Mental Health
Is This Thing On? might be about comedy, but it’s not a comedy film. It’s more of a drama about when the breakdown of a long-term marriage collides with mid-life, with funny content. Outside of the standup scenes, the laughs are minimal, and even on stage, Alex’s style is less about cracking jokes and more about exorcising his demons. People in New York just happen to connect with the way he talks about love, sex, and parenthood.
Will Arnett gives his best live-action performance as Alex Novak, although similarities with his animated character, Bojack Horseman, are clear. He brings the same deadpan self-deprecation to both roles. When we first meet Alex, he’s at his weakest and most depressed. He sits alone and struggles to connect with those around him. Arnett brings his natural likability to the role, immediately making the audience warm to him.
The film doesn’t just want to say that comedy is an effective replacement for therapy. It wants to explore the male loneliness epidemic and the lack of community through the world of standup comedy.
Not All Characters Get A Say In Their Story
Is This Thing On? is a film about divorce that is very specific to Alex’s point of view. Dern’s Tess is diminished in favor of exploring his life, and she does not get any time to put in her side of the story. Her own internal struggles are hinted at but never fully explored, always favoring Alex’s side of the proceedings. Thankfully, Dern stops her character from falling into ‘annoying nagging wife’ tropes.
Alex and Tessa’s friend group is largely underwritten. This is especially obvious in a later scene when the group goes on a trip, and it’s noticeable they are concepts of ideas rather than real people. Andra Day’s Christine is an empty nester who seems to cope with smoking joints, but little else is known about the woman. Cooper’s Balls (yes, that is his character’s name) is a messy manchild, and while the first pratfall is funny, his character wears thin. Balls is a punchline of a joke that can’t sustain itself for an entire film. Stephen and Geoffrey get no more than five lines in the whole movie. If their content newlyweds are meant to contrast the long-suffering marriages of the other two couples, their screentime isn’t full enough to seem purposeful.
Christine Ebersole and Ciarán Hinds are the real comedians in the movie. The duo plays Alex’s eccentric parents who are obsessed with juice boxes, feeding their grandchildren, and judging their son’s newfound interests in comedy. This pair consistently delivers a belly-laugh when on screen, as well as being the beating heart of the film.
An Optimistic View Of Divorce
Cooper, Arnett, and Mark Chappell’s script optimistically examines divorce. Unlike Baumbach’s Marriage Story, Is This Thing On? wants to celebrate the small wins instead of dwelling on the bad days.
Although this is much less showy than Cooper’s previous outings (A Star Is Born, Maestro), it proves that the actor-turned-director can handle small, intimate stories without showbiz gimmicks.
Is This Thing On? loses its nerve in its final act. The script takes the easy, sensitive way out instead of committing to the more meditative tone of the first two acts. When it becomes clear the direction the film is taking, it drags it out for at least one scene too many. The use of Queen’s ‘Under Pressure’ in the closing moments may leave you thinking about a better film about parenthood and men’s mental health, Aftersun. It also adds another emotional layer to the final act, although perhaps an undeserved one.
Although it takes a little long to warm up and lasts one scene too many, Is This Thing On? is a surprisingly affecting film about a lonely man discovering himself through comedy and its community.
Is This Thing On? recently played at the London Film Festival.
Learn more about the film at the IMDB site for the title.
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