Is This Thing On? offers a wonderfully raw and hilarious look at the messiness of divorce, mid-life crises, and the importance finding your voice as an individual before you can commit to a relationship and your family. Will Arnett shines in a role that perfectly combines his effortless wit and self-effusive charm with a more vulnerable role.
Is This Thing On? is directed by Bradley Cooper (A Star is Born, Maestro). It follows a couple who, as their marriage unravels must each find new paths forward. Alex (Will Arnett) seeks new purpose as a standup comic in the New York comedy scene, while his wife Tess (Laura Dern) confronts sacrifices made for their family, forcing both of them to navigate co-parenting and their identities.
A highlight of this film is how much reverence it treats standup comedy with. Structurally, the standup comedy element forms the basis of the film. Each part of Alex’s life untangling is followed by a standup routine in which he turns those feelings into a creative expression. Through this process he works through his experiences, using standup as a form of self-administered therapy. It’s a brilliant reflection of the places that comedy can come from, and a great channel to show how comedy is a strong vehicle for storytelling.
In particular, it provides a nice reprieve from the other elements of the film, giving us something to bounce back to that feels familiar, exciting and fresh, after we’ve spent time enduring Alex’s frenetic home life and struggle to find meaning. In a way, his outlet for standup comedy becomes our outlet in the movie, with the scenes in the comedy club consistently feeling the most cathartic and exciting of the film, thanks to Cooper’s dynamic directing of those scenes.
Bradley Cooper’s naturalistic direction throws you into the intimate corners of dimly lit comedy clubs, drifting through New York City streets and the cozy interiors of home life.
Cooper also deploys a very loose handheld photography style with shaky closeups as well as wide shots peppered with out-of-focus audience heads in the foreground that make you feel like you’re in the crowd peeking into at a raw moment happening in real time. That forces you to sit with all the embarrassment and uncertainty that Alex is feeling as an amateur standup comic.
Cooper pairs this with wonderful moonlit photography of New York City streets captured with shots of Arnett waxing through picturesque backgrounds with soft lighting that highlight the inviting and warm mood of the city. There is a feeling reflected here that finding yourself in standup comedy after a mid-life crisis is something you can only do in New York City. Of course, this isn’t entirely true, but it’s accurate enough that setting the movie here makes it better.
What’s most apparent about his style is that Cooper understands how to capture the rawness and beauty of mundane moments, letting scenes play out in full through interesting angles, like when he follows Alex’s group of friends departing a train station and hold the medium shot for long enough until they’re barely visible walking away on the staircase, letting us experience the slowness and familiarity of being reunited with a friend group.
There’s also some clever use of motifs in the film. Two party scenes work to contrast the different phases in Alex’s life. At the start of the film, he sits alone in the corner of a school hall, a recluse from him own life, refusing to participate in the Lunar New Year dragon dance going on around him as everyone else dances. At the midpoint of the film, after he’s rejuvenated his life through standup post-separation, he attends his children’s birthday party where he joins the dancing and totally immerses himself in the confetti celebration. Symbolism like this gives the movie a strong thematic drive.
Undoubtably the most refreshing part of the film is the experience of watching two people go through a cathartic journey of self-rediscovery. Once Alex and Tess fall out of love, their separation forces them to be their own people again. The movie proves that being single in your mid-life is hard but picking up new and old hobbies regrants them their independence and confidence back. This journey that then brings them to rediscover a flare for life, dating, and love, is beautifully told thanks to Cooper’s masterful naturalistic direction and the standout performances from Will Arnett and Laura Dern.
Fans of Will Arnett’s podcast Smartless will also be happy to know that Sean Hayes (and his real life husband Scott Icenogle) appear in the film as part of Alex and Tessa’s friend group, and are a highlight of the friendship dynamics and comedy. As for Jason Bateman, he might just have to wait until the next time for an appearance!
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