I really like Bradley Cooper, not just as an actor, but as a director. Like his acting choices over the past decade, his directing efforts (A Star Is Born, Maestro) have jumped between genres and tones, and Is This Thing On? continues that streak. It’s smaller, more intimate, and really thoughtful film that I’ve kept thinking about since I first watched it.
Will Arnett and Laura Dern star as Alex and Tess Novak, a long-married couple with two young boys living in the suburbs of New York City. From the outside, everything looks fine: the kids are healthy and smart, their careers are stable, and they live in a nice home. But once the doors close, the cracks show. Nothing huge, just the kind of issues that pile up over time until they start to feel unbearable. They married young, they’ve changed, and while they still love each other, that love has shifted into something unfamiliar. It’s not gone. It’s just… different.
When the film opens, Alex and Tess are separating. Alex has moved into a small apartment and finds himself alone and bored. One drunken night in New York City, he ends up outside the famed Comedy Cellar. The bouncer tells him there’s a cover charge unless he’s going up for open mic. Sure, why not? Free cover.
And wouldn’t you know, his name is called.
To be honest, this is the most implausible part of the film. What are the odds that someone’s first night at the Cellar turns into stage time?
Alex riffs on the current state of his life, and… he’s not bad. He goes back the next week. And the week after that. Comedy isn’t something he ever planned on pursuing, it’s just a way to get his thoughts out of his head and into the open.
And then he realizes something surprising. He really likes it.
Meanwhile, Tess is branching off in her own way, trying to find investors for her startup. While they’re apart, both Alex and Tess begin to grow, not into who they want to be, but into who they realistically could be. They still see each other, still share friends and family obligations, and whenever they argue, you can feel the love underneath it all.
When Tess eventually finds out about Alex’s stand-up, she’s shocked, but also intrigued. She starts to see him differently. Early on, she tells him he’s not the same person he used to be, but that he’s got his spark back. And she likes it.
The question becomes though: is that spark enough? Do they risk getting back together, or does growth sometimes mean moving on?
Arnett is best known for his comedy work, and I’d bet I’ve seen most of it. I also listen to SmartLess, so yes, I’m a fan. He’s funny and smart as a whip. I expected him to be good here, especially since he co-wrote the film with his longtime friend Cooper, but he genuinely surprised me.
Alex is a man who doesn’t want to give up, even though he’s not entirely sure what he’s holding onto. He’s stuck in his routine and quietly wondering how he got here. After the separation, you can feel his wings slowly starting to spread. In one of the film’s most honest lines, he tells Tess, “I don’t hate you. I hate our marriage.”
Casting Laura Dern, though, is Cooper and Arnett’s master stroke. Every scene she’s in has texture. She finds unexpected angles, delivers lines in ways you don’t anticipate, and elevates even the quietest moments with a look or a pause.
Cooper himself, who usually headlines his own films, takes a backseat this time as Alex’s flaky best friend Arnie, an actor who perpetually thinks that he’s on the cusp of success. He’s great, of course. Why wouldn’t he be? He’s probably known a dozen versions of this guy.
In many ways, Is This Thing On? feels like the polar opposite of Noah Baumbach’s Marriage Story. That film, which I loved, was bleak, man. This isn’t. Cooper and Arnett aren’t anti-marriage; they’re just poking holes in the idea of it. They’re asking whether marriage can evolve, whether it can make room for individual growth and what happens when it doesn’t.
It’s a warm, thoughtful film about love and how it evolves. I think this might be one of my favorite films of the year.
