The third time is the charm for Bradley Cooper. Not that his first two directorial efforts, A Star Is Born and Maestro, were disappointments in any way. Both were well received and lauded for their impressive undertaking and understanding of how music can be shot cinematically. But it’s his third film, a comedy called Is This Thing On?, that takes Cooper back to his comedic roots and shows his full range as a director.
Based loosely on the marriage of British comedian John Bishop, Will Arnett is Alex Novack, a burnt-out parent married to Laura Dern’s Tess, a former Olympic volleyball player, yearning for her glory days. Both have lost themselves in their relationship, and both agree to call their marriage seconds into the film’s two-hour runtime.
Driven by loneliness and an empty bank account, he finds out he can drink for free at a local comedy club if he performs a five-minute set. Of course, as soon as he goes on the first time, he loves it. As Alex meets other comics and starts telling better jokes, he juggles keeping his new hobby a secret from his chaotic friends, family, and from Tess.
Arnett brings his classic brand of snark to Alex and mixes it with a melancholic quietness that fans have not physically seen from him before. Sure, he voiced the titular depressed and narcissistic sitcom star on the animated Bojack Horseman, but there is an understated subtleness to his performance as Alex that the film is able to rest its tone on.
Written by Cooper, Arnett, and Mark Chappell, the script is funny where it needs to be, but never saccharine. Joining Dern and Arnett onscreen is Cooper as Alex’s best friend, Balls, who is in a dysfunctional marriage of his own with Christine (Andra Day), Christine Ebersole and Ciarán Hinds as his over-involved parents, and Sean Hayes and real-life husband Scott Icenogle as one of their couple friends. Everyone in that cast represents someone you know from your own life, just trying to make it through the day. Cooper, especially, is a comedy assassin in his role as a narcissistic actor/stoner who never grew up.
His direction is also so smart. When Alex is doing his first set, the shot is tight on his face, allowing Arnett to break the fourth wall and look directly into the camera. It creates an intimacy and vulnerability that mimics the relationship between a comedy audience in a small club and a stand-up comedian. It’s such a small, simple touch that adds a whole other layer to a film that could have been a cliché.
Is This Thing On? is not a complete departure for Cooper. There are some moving musical moments in this film that I won’t spoil that could only have been done by someone who made Maestro. As soon as the credits rolled, I immediately wanted to watch it again. Is This Thing On? is a life-affirming meditation on how to find yourself again and where to go from there.
Is This Thing On? hits select theaters December 19th via Searchlight Pictures.
*NOTE: This review was originally part of our Middleburg Film Festival coverage.
