Screening at NYFF: Bradley Cooper’s ‘Is This Thing On?’

Bradley Cooper’s third feature film after that Master And A star is born– the divorce-and-stand-up drama Is this thing on?– deviates from the musical focus of his previous efforts, but, like this one, comes painfully close to being great. The actor-director is three-for-three when it comes to films about art and artistry that fall just short, while showing enough thoughtful details to convince you that he will eventually create a masterpiece. Unfortunately, today is not that day, but the result remains perfectly entertaining.

Written by Cooper, Mark Chappell and the film’s lead actor, Will Arnett, the story begins with strict financial man Alex Novak (Arnett) and his concerned housewife Tess (Laura Dern) mutually deciding to separate. It’s a spontaneous moment seemingly prompted by extended off-screen thought, and while this framing offers little context as to their reasons, the film opens up space for both characters to re-critique their relationship in a unique and alluring way. The couple’s ten-year-old boys happily accept the amicable separation, even if it means splitting their time between Tess in their suburban home and Alex in his new bachelor pad in Manhattan. However, to cope with the unexpected sadness of the situation, Alex finds himself – first by chance and then by design – at several open mic nights at New York’s Comedy Cellar, where he lets his troubles pour out in the form of some decidedly average stand-up. It’s an experiment he keeps a close eye on, like a dirty secret, the gradual revelation of which makes for some fun situational comedy.

Cooper and cinematographer Matthew Libatique’s camera remains tethered to Alex’s awkward close-ups for most of his sets, as he finds ways to turn his impending divorce into fodder for his act and learns the tricks of the trade from more seasoned comics in scenes full of snappy humor. All the while, he and Tess remain in each other’s orbit, gradually navigating the tricky complications of remaining close despite going their separate ways. At first, Is this thing on? It plays like the story of an artist discovering his hidden talent, but while Alex’s routine gestures are cathartic, they rarely help him address his avoidant personality—or the lingering tensions that keep him and Tess from exploring their new dynamic. After all, men will literally do that [insert hobby here] instead of going to therapy.

The supporting characters surrounding the couple weave between Alex’s loving parents (Christine Ebersole, Ciarán Hinds) and a litany of married friends, including Cooper himself as a floundering actor named Balls. Unfortunately, these B-plots tend to feel intrusive rather than informative, especially when Cooper lets the camera roll for extended periods – often on themselves – that reveal little about the characters and move the story even less. Still, they’re quirky enough to be funny, even if Cooper could afford to leave some of his riffs on the cutting room floor.

However, when Will and Tess take center stage in the film, there is no end to the audiovisual delights. Cooper moves between scenes with furious momentum; One noisy transition in particular makes the idea of ​​bringing domestic misery to the stage literal, as James Newberry’s jazzy score creates countless anxious crescendos at every turn. His dedication to capturing drama in real time produces compelling and side-splitting dialogue scenes, in which the camera – while noticeably oscillating between the leads without cutting away – offers his actors the opportunity to dig deep into the insecurities underlying their confident, personal facades. These are polite masks they wear toward each other, even during pleasant interactions, if it means they can never blame themselves for the breakup. But as Alex explores stand-up and Tess attempts to return to her former career as a volleyball coach (with the help of an acquaintance played naturalistically by former NFL quarterback Peyton Manning), the duo also explore a complicated friends-with-benefits dynamic, as the question of whether they’ll ever admit their mistakes to themselves — let alone each other — continues to loom.

The thorny evolution of the couple’s relationship speaks of an artistic desire to solve a kind of riddle for which there is no simple answer. Cooper and Arnett have both experienced divorce themselves, and the film captures vignettes of reality in bursts of energy, especially in isolated moments when the main characters become more concerned, frustrated, or saddened, sometimes all at once. As a performance piece Is this thing on? is undeniable and results in surprising despondency from Arnett and remarkable work from Dern, whose quiet reactions and introspections speak louder than words. However, the adrenaline of the movie drama tends to wane the longer the movie goes on without a real goal in mind. It’s a film that ultimately has too many open questions without the dramatic accuracy to justify them, even if the plot ends neatly (albeit too quickly and easily).

More broadly, one has to wonder whether Cooper has taken the criticism of his previous work to heart. “No one wants an Oscar more than Bradley Cooper” wrote Alex Abad-Santos for Vox, in a piece that also calls him a “try-hard.” It’s just one of the many feelings that often accompany his writer-director-actor-producer (and sometimes singer) ventures, though this time he’s largely removed himself from the on-screen equation and diverted his attention from the music altogether. This is unfortunately at odds with the kind of visual enthusiasm he usually brings in his films. I also wrote in 2023 that he should do that just direct a musical alreadya sentiment that applies here too, given the deliberate way he moves his camera around each performer, creating compelling rhythms even when the film’s other pieces don’t necessarily fit.

I’m inclined to disagree with assessments like Abad-Santos’s, given that much of Cooper’s production is shot through with emotional sincerity, regardless of whether or not his end goal is an intimate emotional cleansing or simply winning a trophy. On the other hand, in the intensely rendered but chaotic A star is bornthe more convincing but more reserved Masterand now the more focused but less ambitious Is this thing on?– all stories about artists who find themselves by opening their veins and letting the public see what flows out – is there really a difference between the desire for catharsis and major awards? Cooper’s latest is clearly the result of someone who has experienced personal anguish, and like Alex Novak, he tries to use his pain not only as a basis for something healing, but also for something hilarious, if also something very imperfect.