Early in Bradley Cooper’s “Is This Thing On?,” the writer/director/actor performs an epic pratfall. His character Balls (yes, Balls), enters the film by face-planting with a carton of oat milk during a staid gathering of friends. It’s a very “Three Stooges” move for a movie that’s more about comedy than it is actual comedy. His spilled milk isn’t even played for laughs, though Balls, a supporting character, does elicit a few chuckles throughout.
Cooper isn’t interested in making a comedy, outright, with “Is This Thing On?” Instead, this is the third installment in what could be a trilogy about creativity, the way that art and performance can light a person up from the inside. When we first meet our protagonist Alex (Will Arnett), he’s staring dead-eyed into middle-distance at an elementary school performance. His soon-to-be-ex-wife Tess (Laura Dern) jokes to a group of friends that he’s not alive before the title of the film flashes on screen. Is this man on? Not in the least.
Alex stumbles into comedy — literally. Stoned on a marijuana cookie, he inadvertently signs up for an open mic just to avoid the $15 cover charge at the Comedy Cellar where he wants to get a drink. Summoned on stage, he mumbles through some musings about his dissolving marriage for which he is rewarded a few laughs, and suddenly, Alex is hooked, comedy now his hot new mistress. It becomes a vice, a furtive hobby. Even his admission to Balls is played like a naughty confession.
But Alex blossoms under the spotlight, high on attention and validation, Arnett’s micro-expressions studiously captured in an uncomfortable close-up courtesy of cinematographer Matthew Libatique’s roaming hand-held camera. That stylistic choice works best when Alex is behind the mic, as we see him work out his material and respond to the crowd, who we rarely see. The process is played out in Arnett’s performance, the feedback loop of laughs the dopamine hit that awakens him to the world again. Or maybe it’s just the relief that comes from finally being honest.
“Is This Thing On?” is one of the best examples of what people mean when they say, “men would rather (blank) than go to therapy,” but this isn’t just a conceit — it really happened, to British comedian John Bishop (who receives a “story by” credit). Even the wild coincidence that makes up the centerpiece of the film is true, pulled from Bishop’s experience unknowingly performing a set of divorce material to a crowd that included his ex-wife.
The antsy style and cross-cutting that Cooper employs in this scene, as well as Dern’s terrific reactions, make this a show-stopping sequence, and the stranger than fiction circumstances help.
But it’s at this point that Cooper abandons the warm, chummy environment of the Comedy Cellar as he regresses back to his old ways, which includes Tess and their married friends, Balls and his wife Christine (Andra Day), and a gay couple, Stephen and Geoffrey, played by Arnett’s podcast co-host Sean Hayes and his real-life husband Scott Icenogle.
It’s only a disappointment because the comedy scenes Cooper has crafted are so intoxicating and fun. It’s clear that he has a love for a classic haunt like the Cellar, and the lovable rascals who haunt it, night after night. Alex fits in there, finding a home, friends, an outlet. We watch him grow, liking the person he becomes, and then, he goes back.
His old life pales in comparison. Cooper shouldn’t have made the comedy world so appealing — authentic and lived-in, populated with real comics. The marriage world Cooper presents isn’t just strangely bland, it tests our suspension of disbelief. What does this couple like about each other? Laura Dern is a former Olympic volleyball player? How, exactly, is this group of people friends? And what’s with the scene where they all sing “Amazing Grace” while preparing breakfast for no apparent reason?
Cooper is great at crafting strangely evocative cinematic moments, but “Amazing Grace” is just bizarre, not effective. Other scenes work better, like a joyous birthday party, and a school concert, and there’s an affability layered throughout “Is This Thing On?” that makes it more of a hangout movie about a tepid midlife crisis than forward-moving drama.
Perhaps others will be more convinced of the love story here, which is one of choice and intention, not passion. What is palpable is Alex’s passion for stand-up, and how much it allows him to blossom. The best thing about the movie is Cooper showcasing this great performance from Arnett, who shines under the spotlight. Bishop’s story ends with a successful comedy career. While we don’t see where things go for Alex, ultimately, that is the more satisfying ending to this story of what it means to take a creative leap, and soar.
Katie Walsh is a critic for Tribune News Service.
“Is This Thing On?” — 2.5 stars (out of 4)
MPA rating: R (for language throughout, sexual references and some drug use)
Running time: 2:04
How to watch: In theaters Jan. 9
