Is This Thing On? review – Bradley Cooper’s comedy of comedians is a charmer

<p><strong>New York film festival:</strong> The actor’s third film as director is a gentle romcom of divorce and standup comedy with standout turns from Will Arnett and Laura Dern</p><p>Here’s a joke: a man walks into a bar and, to avoid paying a $15 cover, signs up for an open mic night. He’s in the midst of a divorce and a little high, a walking, middle-aged black rain cloud. He’s never done stand-up before. The punchline? He’s actually kinda good at it – rough around the edges, unpracticed, a little stiff but, under the glare of the spotlight, able to spin some of his pain into self-deprecating jokes and unforced laughs.</p><p>It helps immensely that this man is played by Will Arnett, the gravelly voiced comedian and former BoJack Horseman who excels at masculine sad-sacks with self-flagellating charm. Like Arnett the celebrity podcast host, Arnett’s Alex is self-deprecating, subtle, effortlessly if dryly funny – in other words, easy to root for, even in the very midlife crisis pursuit of stand-up comedy. That’s good news for Bradley Cooper’s latest directorial effort, Is This Thing On?, which, despite its foregrounding of discovering stand-up, is more a subtle, self-deprecating, ultimately endearing rom-com between two people who were married for 20 years.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2025/oct/10/is-this-thing-on-review-bradley-cooper">Continue reading...</a>