British comedian John Bishop’s life story inspired director and cowriter Bradley Cooper’s latest film, “Is This Thing On?” (2025), a remarriage comedy about the therapeutic power of finding something to love and doing it even if it is the eleventh hour. Alex (Will Arnett, who also cowrote) and Tess Novak (Laura Dern) decide to amicably end their twenty-year marriage. To cope, Alex goes to a bar, but to avoid the cover charge, he signs up to do stand up on an open mic night. Men will literally begin a whole new career instead of going to therapy. He finds acceptance in a community that puts a little pep in his step while Tess tries to rebuild a life outside her family. In finding themselves, will these two crazy kids find their way back to each other?
Arnett usually appears in television series or in supporting roles in movies, but he shows his complete range and delivers an organic performance as a man in exile from his suburban home while living in Manhattan. He even cries a lot. As a New Yorker, I immediately thought, “How can Alex afford an apartment like that in NYC?” It is bland, but new and spacious for NYC on Twelfth Street on the West Side. There is even a new car. Well, he works in finance, but you would not know it based on how much time he spends with his two ten-year old sons, Blake (Blake Kane) and Jude (Calvin Knegten), who are not twins. It is the least realistic thing about the movie, but let’s sign a waiver and chalk it up to “Is This Thing On?” only focusing on what is important to Alex throughout the movie.
If you think that “Is This Thing On?” will solely focus on Alex developing his newfound interest, you would be wrong. Comedy is featured in the film proportionate to the health of his most important relationships, and the passage of time is noted with group celebrations at the kids’ school, respective family homes or friend gatherings, which consist of three couples, including the Novaks. Cooper cannot resist the camera and plays an aspiring actor, Balls, who is always high, and married to Christine (Andra Day), who kind of hates Alex, but not in a super disruptive way. Balls is the kind of character that Zach Galifianakis would normally play, and everytime Cooper is onscreen, he is the center of attention, and it is hilarious how much of a ham he is (complimentary). There is talk of Balls and Christine’s kid, Tyler, but not a visible trace of him. Sean Hayes is at his lowest setting though when Hayes hums with Day, it is super cute. Hayes always has that scene stealing twinkle in his eye and showed much restraint, but seriously, could not his character and his character’s husband (Scott Icenogle) get names? Unlike most movies, this film makes them seem like a credible friend group.
Cooper took a page out of Christopher Nolan’s play book (derogatory) because the diegetic sounds combined with the dialogue makes it feel chaotic as if you were there being pulled in all directions just like Alex. It is challenging to distinguish the laughs from the comedy club scenes and the audience, which is a nice touch. It is mostly shot with a handheld camera to further put you in the Novaks’ shoes. Cooper makes Novaks’ world seem credibly like New York without the obligatory gorgeous skyline shots. He gets the energy, the effortless Benetton quality of life where other cultures are an innate part of the broader world without it written self-consciously on an agenda and the populated erratic nature of becoming part of an iterant, random community.
“Is This Thing On?” captures the thrill of the second Renaissance and how one alteration changes everything. It is not a movie about becoming a comedian and succeeding, but heterosexual relationships and not in a gender normative way. It is the push and pull of being forever entangled with someone and its delights and dread. Even separated and divorcing, Alex and Tess are inseparable. When they leave the first party, it is heavy handed, but Cooper shoots them from outside the train as they board before they wake up and separate because they live in separate places. Cooper then alternates from inside to outside the train with the train window glass separating them as if they are in jail and talking every second as the train pulls away. It is a sign that they do not really want to be apart.
Even though “Is This Thing On?” was made before “All of You” (2025), these movies seem to be in complimentary conversation with each other. In the latter, everyone is taking a test to find their soulmate based on the success of others, which is lie that the participants do not even want to admit to themselves. Cowriters Arnett, Cooper and Mark Chappell do the reverse. Marriage is the success, and divorce becomes contagious as a seemingly perfect balance of freedom and family, but in this world, everyone is in love and wants to be together. The acoustic version of David Bowie and Freddie Mercury’s “Under Pressure” becomes the thesis, “Why can’t we give love that one more chance?” It is sweet and works because Dern is the kind of actor who is sweet and tough, not a pushover. If she can sell going back to a well, it is believable.
One of Alex’s stand-up bits is a meta nod to pro-male propaganda about how all negative male characteristics gets repackaged into admirable traits: dad bods, poverty, etc. It is accurate but also takes the wind out of detractors’ sails because Alex never seems that bad. His biggest problem in his marriage is predominantly seeing his wife as a bad ass athlete, not refreshing the image to incorporate all her facets, which includes the difficulty of conceiving, being a mother and then realizing that she tossed all her individuality to the curb for the family. There is a scene where he tries to get her to watch the kids, and she pushes back, which leads to a course correction and confrontation. They feel like equals going on intersecting self-discovery journeys. Editor Charlie Greene’s juxtapositions of their respective preparations for a night out contrast the similarities and differences in their approach but lead to the same destination.
While no “Splitsville” (2025), “Is This Thing On?” is better than “Materialists” (2025). It is a simple, but effective entertaining film that probably will not get any Oscars but is the kind of mature fare that is perfect for adults without straining suspension of disbelief. It has an urbane sophistication in its approach to characters, personal dynamics and life’s turning points. Unlike a lot of films about comedians, it is also not crushingly depressing without being saccharine and veering too far in the other direction.
