Bradley Cooper returns to the director’s chair with a smaller-scale story than his previous outings and he further proves his directorial prowess with this perfectly-formed, hilarious and tender relationship study. The kind of adult comedy-drama that feels as though it is from a bygone age, Is This Thing On? is a beautifully crafted breath of fresh air.
We first meet married couple Alex (Will Arnett) and Tess (Laura Dern) as they are teetering on the edge of separation, making one last appearance as a couple at their friend’s house before Alex moves out of the family home. Pained and struggling, Alex finds himself alone in New York one night; wanting a drink, he stumbles across a bar but doesn’t have the cash cover to get in. Upon finding out that anyone performing at the open mic inside is exempt from the cover, he signs up. When he is forced to follow through on stage, what comes out is an honest account of his current separation, which, combined with a natural wit, proves successful and sparks a new passion and outlet for Alex. Separately, Tess begins to reconnect with her own history and passion in volleyball and the energy between them begins to twist and evolve as they rediscover themselves apart and find themselves slowly drawn a little closer. What follows is both extremely funny and very tender. The laughs are out loud but the emotions are felt deeply.
The history and underlying connection between the characters is immediately palpable – without seeing any of it you get a real sense of their history and the struggle that is their relationship breakdown. The separation is not acrimonious but that doesn’t mean it isn’t painful; it feels like a very genuine portrayal of two people who have loved each other for years but just can’t make it work anymore. You feel their frustration with each other and with the situation but you also see the edges of this soften as they find new meaning in their own lives. Alex finds not only a focus and outlet in transposing the tale of his separation into stand-up material, but also finds a new community in the others that are doing the same. Tess re-enters the world of competitive sport having previously been a professional athlete and again finds her own purpose and drive. Both take their first steps back into the single world but it is neither’s main focus. This is a film about these characters finding their way back to themselves before they can find their way back to each other. Alex’s stand up plays a more direct role than you might think in one particularly visceral, stranger-than-fiction scene.
The film pulsates with an electric energy, veering between the chaotic and invigorating, with Cooper masterfully navigating a tone that takes in the spectrum of human emotion during turbulent periods. Whilst being an excavating and honest character and relationship study, Is This Thing On? also manages to be genuinely hilarious. Finding the humour in the pain, as Alex does himself, there are a multitude of laugh-out-loud moments ranging from dry humour to slapstick, stemming from moments that never really feel contrived, just deeply human. Cooper gives himself the most outright comedic role as a somewhat struggling actor, friend to our main couple, whose (almost) every line raised a laugh from the audience.
The cast are uniformly excellent. Arnett and Dern walk the line between funny and heartfelt that holds the film together and spark off each other brilliantly, making their relationship feel entirely real. Arnett is given more dramatic material than we’ve seen before and he really excels, imbuing Alex with a broken-heartedness behind the eyes but a fire slowly coming back to life. Hopefully this will prove a landmark moment in his career that will open new opportunities beyond it. Dern is on top from, relishing in Tess’ more acerbic moments but also bringing out a youthful hopeful energy as she finds her spark for life again. Both disappear completely into their roles. Cooper is great support, alongside Andra Day as his wife.
These characters feel fully realised, flaws and all, and portrayed with a lived-in authenticity that draws you completely into their story. The camerawork is intimate and energetic, allowing you to really enter the world and unstable emotion of their relationship. The film rattles along to its own rhythm through plot points and character evolutions that feel earned and natural, never forced for the sake of a laugh or to play to expectations. It is impossible not to root for Alex and Tess as you get entangled in their dynamic.
It feels like a future classic. Cooper has crafted a masterfully-observed comedy-drama that mines relationships for romance, pain and comedy and ultimately becomes something very hopeful. Equal parts entertaining and touching, it is the type of adult cinema that is so rare these days and I really hope it gets the audience it deserves.
