Is This Thing On? (2025)

Is This Thing On? is a film about Alex (Will Arnett) and Tess (Laura Dern) who within 3 minutes of the film starting are about to get a divorce and when Alex walks into a comedy bar he attempts stand up and decides he likes it and the film follows as Alex tries to develop his career whilst trying to navigate his new relationship with Tess.

This film reminded me a bit of The Roses with Olivia Colman and Benedict Cumberbatch. In that film Kate McKinnon and Andy Samberg play a couple that is supposed to be the opposite to the main couple and their own is slightly dysfunctional and in this film it is Bradley Cooper himself and Andra Day who are the opposite couple. The Cooper/Day couple isn’t as funny as the McKinnon/Samberg couple but it works in the context of this film. 

I really like Will Arnett and Laura Dern in this. I thought that they worked really well as a couple that seemed to have a fun relationship with each other. The film didn’t force them to be horrible to each other or bitchy at certain times. There is a moment where they have a discussion with each other but it never felt like it was going to be a volatile moment. Ciaran Hinds pops up as Alex’s dad Jan who seems to be having fun playing the elderly father figure although he has a lovely moment with Alex after he has just done an angry routine. Hinds is one of those actors who can elevate whatever role he finds himself in. 

This is apparently based on the life of UK comedian John Bishop who had a stint in Doctor Who so that was enough to get me intrigued although based on the trailer the film doesn't really say that its worth coming to the cinema for. For the record this was another mystery screening although unlike my previous cinema encounter ‘Saipan’, there were actually people in the screening with me.

There are only a couple of things that I wasn't as keen on. Firstly is the moment when Tess arrives with her ‘date’ at the same comedy club that Alex is performing at and just at the same time. You could see that coming a mile off. The other thing and this one might be argued as a creative decision but something that I am never keen on and that is the close up. Someone needs to tell Bradley Cooper that camera even 40 years ago had zooms on them. There were a couple of times I wished the camera would take just a couple of steps away from Will Arnett. A final thing which might come across as unfair or harsh is the casting of Peyton Manning. He might be considered one of the greatest of all time in the NFL but in acting terms it's a dud piece of casting. Thankfully he is only in the film for about five minutes but when the rest of the cast is so good, his performance stood out and not in a good way.

Overall I found Is This Thing On? to be charming. This is technically a romcom and does a far better job of keeping me interested unlike Materialists and this film had characters which felt like real people and situations which felt real without coming across as fake. I like Bradley Cooper as a director. I think he is quite underrated because him films aren’t flashy and they don't have a ‘message’ that a lot of films nowadays seem to have. I was genuinely and happily impressed with this film and think that it should be seen because the story is good and the comedy routines are rather good.