Is This Thing On?
- Ben Pivoz
- Jan 10
- 3 min read
Stand-up comedy is a fascinating outlet for anxiety, stress, frustration and anger. So much of that can be channeled into a joke to burn off those feelings, refashion them into something that makes an audience laugh. The dramedy Is This Thing On? is not about stand-up or comedians. It is about a man, unhappy and floundering, in the throes of a separation that seems to be heading toward an inevitable divorce, who discovers comedy as an unexpectedly freeing way to deal with his pain. It is insightful, funny and gently moving as it explores a relationship after it has ended, yet possibly before it is permanently finished.
Directed/cowritten by Bradley Cooper (who also appears in a supporting role), it is not a hard-to-watch nightmare about a failed marriage where the couple now hates one another. This is two people trying to figure out who they are as individuals after 26 years of being with the same person. It doesn’t dig super deep, but it digs deep enough to find some truth in the loneliness of shared experience with someone you no longer feel connected to and the liberation of being forced to start over.
The characters are likable, never crossing a line even when they hurt each other. I wanted to go on this journey with Alex and Tess, hoping they would find happiness, either together or apart. Is This Thing On? (115 minutes, without the end credits) is sensitive and amusing, locating the humor in a tough situation, while looking at the complicated love at the heart of it. Bradley Cooper is developing into a pretty good filmmaker.
Alex and Tess have decided to separate. He moves into his own apartment and they choose to share custody of their two ten-year-old sons. Lonely and aimless, Alex goes to a bar. Lacking the money to pay the cover, he signs up for open mic night so he can enter for free. Inexplicably, an awkward time on stage invigorates him, giving him purpose for the first time in forever.
What is great about this story is we are not supposed to believe that Alex is naturally an amazing comic. The other comedians like him, despite the fact that they think he is terrible at it. He is so earnest and nice that it is hard not to root for him. He gets better with experience, though there is no sense that this is going to turn into a new career for him. It is a way for him to find his identity, rediscover Alex Novak. It is kind of a coming-of-middle-age journey, for him and Tess.
For her, she stagnated with him. A former Olympic volleyball player, Tess lost herself after retiring. This is an opportunity for her to start fresh, without the dead shark that has become their marriage weighing her down. No one is the villain here. It is just two unhappy people who still care deeply for each other. There are no insults, no manipulations, no hatred. It is more dissatisfaction and exhaustion. There is a simplicity and lack of melodrama that really works.
The casting is also great. Will Arnett has a sad-sack charm as Alex. He loves his family, yet has no idea how to be anything worthwhile to them. Laura Dern, as Tess, shows us the type of woman who had to be strong because her partner wasn’t. She appears to be the more active of the two in terms of driving the split, giving the impression that she knows what she is doing. All she knows is she needs a change. They are both really good and have undeniable chemistry together.
Is This Thing On? works as well as it does because it doesn’t push. Cooper allows it to focus on the evolution of his characters, letting them lead the way. It isn’t some brilliant treatise on relationships or the healing power of comedy. It is merely an enjoyable movie about two adults who have been wandering in the dark for so long, finally turning on the light and looking at themselves.
4 out of 5
Cast:
Will Arnett as Alex Novak
Laura Dern as Tess Novak
Andra Day as Christine
Bradley Cooper as Balls
Christine Ebersole as Marilyn
Ciarán Hinds as Jan
Directed by Bradley Cooper
Screenplay by Bradley Cooper, Will Arnett and Mark Chappell
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