Dallas Film Now.

Will Arnett stars as an accidental comic dealing with marital issues. Laura Dern and Andra Day also star; Bradley Cooper directs and co-stars. 

Famed funnyman Will Arnett turns completely dramatic in his latest role, a star turn in Bradley Cooper’s Is This Thing On? 

As you might expect, though, Arnett is inherently funny in his dialogue delivery and facial expressions, which tends to undermine to a certain extent the serious dramatic import clearly intended by the screenplay — credited to Bradley Cooper, Will Arnett, and Mark Chappell — which finds Alex dealing with divorce as a middle-aged man. 

Even though Alex has agreed to divorce from his longtime wife, Tess (Laura Dern), he’s still reeling: it was her idea, not his, and he can’t quite come to terms with why she’s been so unhappy for so long. Indeed, it’s often difficult for him to understand what she is saying; it’s as though they’ve been speaking different languages, while living in the same household, for many years.  

One night, still reeling, he stumbles into a bar. Balking at the price of admission, he signs up on the spot for amateur comedy night and is shocked to realize that he readily displays a nascent talent for stand-up comedy (i.e., he doesn’t bomb completely). Seizing upon stand-up comedy as a means to process his emotions, Alex finds an increasing degree of success. 

Meanwhile, Tess is processing her emotions without any performance anxiety. Instead, she know why she sought a divorce from Alex and seeks to put her feelings into words that the lunkhead might possibly comprehend one day. 

As a director, Bradley Cooper has centered all three of his features so far around artists who give public performances, first in his remake of A Star Is Born (2018), then in bio-drama Maestro (2023). Is This Thing On? may turn from music at its center to relationship issues, but it’s only through performance that Alex is able to deal with his emotions and begin to properly process the damage that his behavior — and inattention to his wife and her needs — has caused over the years. 

Take on its own modest terms, the film looks quite handsome as it putters through its entirely-familiar narrative. The humor is occasionally LOL, but, more often, it’s simply dry and wry, recognizable without being particularly illuminating. Is This Thing On? is very much like an old joke that you’ve heard a thousand times before: you remember that you laughed once, and rarely since. 

The film opens Friday, January 9, only in movie theaters, throughout Dallas and Fort Worth.  For more information about the film, including locations and showtimes, visit the official site.