Is This Thing On? Cooper’s Marital Dramedy, Starring Will Arnett and Laura Dern

Bradley Cooper’s third directing effort, Is This Thing On? provides s a mature portrait of a failing marriage, laced with some wit, dry humor, and realistic observational power.

The screenplay, co-written by Cooper, Will Arnett and Mark Chappell, offers Arnett, a vet comedian and TV actor, his meatiest big-screen role, and his performance is the main reason to see this quietly understated dramedy.

Grade: B (*** 1/2* out of *****)

Is This Thing On?
Theatrical release poster

It is loosely inspired by the life of British comedian John Bishop.

The imoressive supporting cast includes Laura Dern, Cooper, Andra Day, Amy Sedaris, Sean Hayes, Christine Ebersole and Ciarán Hinds.

The film world premiered as the closing film of the 2025 New York Film Fest, and it is released by Searchlight Pictures on December 19.

After many years together, Alex and Tess Novak have reached an amicable end to their marriage, determied to maintain their mutual respect and friendships.

However, as is well-known, the process is never smooth, and the couple beginns an awkward stage of figuring out how to live separately while raising two boys.

They continue to meet, argue, reconcile–and even have hot sex occasionally, while cautious not to let their children know.

Along with disappointments there are also pleasant surpirses along the way, as when Alex discovers a new, passionatye hobby that enabes him to learn more about himself and his relationships.

Unlike his previous movies, especially the musical drama A Star Is Born, Cooper’s direction here is so unassuming and so understated that it might be easier to dismiss the movie’s other qualities.

The tale is grounded in New York’s night club scene, where we observe Alex performing his stand-up routines with vivid joy, and sometimes downwright anger.

Cooper deftly amplified the film’s intimacy in collaboration with Matthew Libatique’s ace cinematography, which relies on mega close-ups of Arnett and restless camera.

Well cast, Arnett brings to his role both self-deprecation and dry humor, bassed on his extensive past of comic experiences.

He (and the movie) benefits from strong chemistry with Laura Dern, as his “former” spouse, who shows both strength and vulnerability in navigating the contradictory forces of push and pull of a relationship that’s multi-nuanced and emotionally comlex.

Cast
Will Arnett as Alex Novak
Laura Dern as Tess Novak
Andra Day as Christine, Balls’s wife
Bradley Cooper as Balls, Alex’s best friend
Amy Sedaris as Kemp
Sean Hayes as Stephen, Geoffrey’s newlywed husband
Christine Ebersole as Marilyn, Alex’s mother
Ciarán Hinds as Jan, Alex’s father
Scott Icenogle as Geoffrey, Stephen’s newlywed husband (Icenogle is Hayes’ real life husband).
Chloe Radcliffe as Nina
Jordan Jensen as Jill
Peyton Manning as Laird
Reggie Conquest as Dan
James Tom as Rolo
Gabe Fazio as Gabe the Bouncer
Blake Kane as Felix
Calvin Knegten as Jude