Movie: Is This Thing On? (2025)
Production Companies: Lea Pictures, Archery Pictures
Distributed by: Searchlight Pictures
Producer(s): Bradley Cooper, Weston Middleton, Will Arnett, Kris Thykier
Directed by: Bradley Cooper
Written by: Bradley Cooper, Will Arnett, Mark Chappell
Starring: Will Arnett, Laura Dern, Bradley Cooper, Andra Day
Review by: Stefano Todaro

Is This Thing On? is Bradley Cooper’s third directorial effort, with the Academy Award-nominated Maestro being his most recent release. Whereas Maestro and A Star is Born were grand in scale and scope, Is This Thing On? is his attempt at a more modest and grounded story. It’s also his first film where music isn’t a central element, although performance still is. The results are mixed, but at the very least, we’re able to see excellent dramatic work from Will Arnett.

An upper-middle-class family living in a comfortable New York home grappling with an impending divorce may seem like the ultimate first-world problem, but maybe this really is the most human story Cooper can tell. I don’t mean to diminish the real impact a divorce can have on children and others, and I know Cooper isn’t trying to change the world, but it’s hard to feel real pain for Cooper’s characters. In a film that aims to evoke emotions, it struggles to establish the stakes that would prompt them to surface.  Much of this can be attributed to the characters, their lives, and their social status.

Alex, played by Will Arnett, and Tess, played by Laura Dern, seemingly have it all. They have lovely children, good-paying jobs, a beautiful home, and a great group of friends (that they probably hate). Both in their middle ages, Alex and Tess are at the point in their lives where divorce seems like the most reasonable next step. Tess gave up Olympic-level volleyball for her family, and Alex has been on cruise control for years. The couple that once loved each other has now seen their marriage come to a crossroads. A divorce is mostly Tess’s idea, but Alex understands and agrees that it’s probably for the best. After wandering the city looking for a drink to drown out his sadness, Alex stumbles upon a comedy club. The only way to get in is to either pay the cover or sign up for the open-mic night. Alex signs up. What was just a way to get free booze turns into a watershed moment for Alex; he discovers that comedy might be his new purpose.

Will Arnett has always been the funny guy, so the idea of leading a dramatic film felt impossible to most, but being an admirer of his performance in the Netflix animated series BoJack Horseman, I knew he had the dramatic chops to pull something off. Is This Thing On? is the perfect style of dramedy that not only eases Arnett into a more dramatic role but also eases audiences into the idea that Arnett can and should be taken seriously as an actor. Cooper’s screenplay allows Arnett to live on that line of dramatic and comedic, and gives the actor enough to work with to make his performance compelling and believable. I even found his stand-up bits to be quite effective. What the screenplay doesn’t do, however, is develop layered enough characters that make the emotional moments and decisions pay off.

Although Alex and Tess have a come-to-Jesus argument that conveniently outlines their gripes with one another, it’s hard to buy that this is a couple on the edge of divorce. We simply do not have enough information about these two and how they lived their lives before the events of the film to fully grasp what’s going on. And for a film’s entire core to be about self-discovery and family, it fails to drive home who anybody was before and after these epiphanies, save for a few throwaway lines and pictures. Cooper writes himself a great character, Balls, who provides some needed perspective and comedic jolts, but other side characters are either only ornamental or verging on infuriating. 

Ultimately, Is This Thing On? feels like a well-intentioned but uneven pivot for Cooper, aiming for intimacy but hampered by shallow characters and low emotional stakes. Still, Arnett’s performance is the film’s saving grace, giving Is This Thing On? moments of sincerity that the screenplay doesn’t always provide.

6.8/10

By: Stefano Todaro