“Is This Thing On?” is a Subtle Evolution for Bradley Cooper

Bradley Cooper has played a lot of different roles as an actor, everything from a Navy Seal sniper to a talking raccoon. As a director, the scope of his subject matter has been much more contained. The three films he’s directed have all been about performers.

Two thousand and eighteen’s “A Star is Born” follows a fading musician and his rising protege. Two thousand and twenty-three’s “Maestro” is a biopic of legendary composer Leonard Bernstein. This week his latest film “Is This Thing On?” is about a middle-aged guy going through a divorce who decides to try stand-up comedy in New York City. If that sounds like a gender-flipped version of “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” it pretty much is. That would bother me if the movie wasn’t so good.

Will Arnett and Laura Dern co-star as the couple in peril, with Cooper directing and playing a smaller (and hilarious) side character. All the relationships in this feel real and fleshed-out at a level most modern movies can’t hold a candle to. 

I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a movie portray the complications and nuances of being in a long term relationship so accurately. This film is about two people talking through their problems for the 1,000th time, hitting a wall again and again, and maybe, miraculously, finding a way through to a better future. This is easily one of the best original screenplays of the year.

“It’s about a mid-life catharsis, not a mid-life crisis” is how Cooper described the film after its premier at the New York Film Festival in October. It’s also about relationships, not really about stand-up comedy. The jokes are fine, but the connections between these characters are deeply felt, beautifully realized, and the heart of the film.

I’ve liked every movie Bradley Cooper has directed so far. “A Star is Born” is my favorite, but it’s also the fourth time that story has been told. “Is This Thing On?” is fresh and singular, an emerging filmmaker finding his voice. 

Rating: 8/10

“Is This Thing On?” opens in theaters on Friday, December 19th.