Months ago, while having dinner with a producer-turned-director friend, who had just directed a debut film selected to open an international film festival and starring one of our country’s most prominent actors, I asked him when he would film his next movie, his second.
His answer was immediate: “I filmed my third movie first.”
He was saying that it would be very difficult to complete a new project of the scale of his first and that perhaps, according to his logic, having a much smaller budget and a smaller story would be the most sensible approach.
Immediately after watching Is This Thing On?, I recorded this conversation.
We could say, then, that Bradley Cooper started with his third film, no less than a new version of A Star Is Born, starring alongside Lady Gaga, followed by Maestro, also in a leading role and with an Oscar-worthy feel all around. The first was a box office smash, something that guarantees continued success in what is no longer Hollywood. Maestro was produced by Netflix, with more than double the budget, and almost without going to theaters it was uploaded to the platform in a jiffy.
Now, Cooper made a very clever decision: to go for less… or more, depending on how you look at it.
Is This Thing On? is a small film that could be categorized as a dramedy about remarriage, something we only realize in the second half of the film. It’s loosely inspired by the true story of British footballer-turned-stand-up comedian John Bishop. Here, Alex, played by Canadian actor and comedian Will Arnett (voice of Bojack Horseman), is a family man who, after more than two decades married to Tess (Laura Dern), finds himself in the process of separating. After walking with his head down through Manhattan’s West Village, a neighborhood known for its record stores that have survived the digital age and for the proliferation of bars with basement stand-up comedy shows, Alex decides to take the stage and grab a microphone. He discovers this way he can avoid paying the $15 cover charge at the Olive Tree Café. “Is this thing on?” he recalls, referring to the expression he felt when standing in front of a microphone and having to say his first words. Almost without thinking, Alex decides to open his act by talking about his recent breakup. For example, he illustrates how difficult it is to live in an Airbnb rental after a separation. This process becomes a kind of therapy, allowing him to express his feelings, and the audience applauds. This gives him the courage to repeat the act days later, establishing a routine. Divorce therapy?
Alex and Tess are also parents of twins, and she’s a professional volleyball player who gave up her career to focus on her partner and motherhood. This connection serves to illustrate Alex’s new relationship with his children, particularly regarding the agreed-upon visitation schedule. He buys a van to transport them more easily. In the back seat, one of the children finds a notebook in which Alex is taking notes for his next performance, and they’re all about his ex. The younger boy immediately notices, creating one of the film’s most poignant moments.
It’s difficult to connect with Tess after the monotonous first hour of Is This Thing On? until a specific moment: during her first date after the breakup, Tess unexpectedly ends up in a bar where Alex appears and recounts details of his first sexual experience with another woman, expressing how much he misses her. From then on, the film is unstoppable, enjoyable, and unpredictable. It’s at this point that Cooper makes everything presented in the film as archetypes seen hundreds of times before in cinema actually work. Specifically, the relationships with parents, friends (including Cooper himself), and the understanding and/or even bewilderment in the face of adversity and differences between Alex and Tess.
Cooper abandons the techniques used in his first two films; this time, he has no intention of dazzling. There are no grandiose shots, no unbearable tension, no musical collage. The scene of Alex on a nearly dark stage, with the lighting design, is enough to highlight Laura Dern’s expressions in one of her best roles to date.
Cooper had mentors like Paul Thomas Anderson and Clint Eastwood, the latter of whom, in a way, took him under his wing. Cooper stepped back from the lead role to give Will Arnett the opportunity, who not only excels in his part but also bears a certain aesthetic resemblance to his director.
While not his The Bridges of Madison County, Cooper’s third film is arguably his best—or should we say his first?
(United States, 2025)
Directed by: Bradley Cooper. Script: Will Arnett, Mark Chappell, Bradley Cooper. Cast: Will Arnett, Laura Dern, Bradley Cooper. Produced by: Will Arnett, Bradley Cooper, Weston Middleton, Kris Thikier. Lenght: 124 minutos.
