Arnett is serious about comedy in ‘Is This Thing On?’
The first hour of “Is This Thing On?” is a slog, teeming with obnoxious people of above-average means and stultifying self-involvement. They shriek and they grate. You want them to just go away and get on with their trivial lives. But then, out of the ashes, rises a halfway decent movie about a stumbling marriage righting itself after the combatants rediscover the people they used to be before kids, mortgages and the everyday minutia took their toll.
It’s co-written and directed by Bradley Cooper, taking a step back from the overproduced glitz of “A Star is Born” and “Maestro.” He’s now going full-bore Altman, with hand-held cameras, overlapping dialogue and an unapologetic grittiness that fearlessly explores the sausage factory of a couple trying to fit their round selves into the square hole of what they think a domesticated American couple should be.
Cooper couldn’t have found more perfect lab rats to experiment with than Will Arnett, who also co-wrote, and Laura Dern as Alex and Tess Novak, suburban New Yorkers with 10-year-old Irish twins and the dullest marital discord set to film. Their “fights” are closer to rational discussions. “Shall we call it?” asks Tess while casually brushing her teeth before bed. She’s talking about beginning a trial separation. Alex, so awash in ennui he can barely keep his eyes open of late, answers in the affirmative. And we’re off.
The last hurdle, after informing their two Hollywood kids – Jude (Calvin Knegten) and Felix (Blake Kane) – that Daddy is going to live in the West Village, is for Tess and Alex to fake their way through a dinner party at the home of their besties: know-it-all Christine (Andra Day) and struggling, hirsute actor Balls (Cooper). Their marriage is no great shakes, either, but they’ve grown to tolerate each other’s annoying habits. As Alex and Tess leave the party and head to Grand Central to hop a commuter train home, they sit side-by-side enjoying each others company after having shared a pot-laced sugar cookie. All seems right until Alex suddenly leaps from his seat and hops back onto the platform as the doors close. He stands and watches, sad-eyed, as the train pulls away with his wife and former life on board.
For the first time in 26 years, he’s now alone, with no idea what to do next. Almost instinctively, he heads to the Village’s famed Olive Tree Cafe to drown his sorrows. But there’s a $15 cover he doesn’t want to pay. To avoid it, he impulsively signs up to be one of that evening’s open-mic comedians, even though he’s never done anything like it before. He has no jokes when he takes the stage, so he talks about the only thing he knows: his miserable life.
He’s not funny, but he is compelling to the crowd. But he doesn’t come across that way on film, which is the first of Cooper’s near-fatal errors. Instead, Arnett’s Alex presents as the sad sack uncle you pray you don’t get seated next to on Thanksgiving. He’s acerbic and off-putting, not at all the semi-congenial guy Alex is when in the company of Tess. But we’re led to believe he’s a hit, a diamond in the rough, a lost man who’s suddenly discovered his calling isn’t in finance, it’s getting up in front of people and unloading his multitude of grievances.
All of this happens during the first hour. And it gets old fast, as we’re subjected to Alex’s dour, self-depricating “comedy” bits. But just when you’re tempted to walk away, Cooper’s film gradually comes alive. I’m torn as to why. Might it be Alex becoming part of a fraternity of similarly jaded malcontents bonding over their love of performing? Or, is it that after being absent for far too long, Dern’s Tess radiantly returns from long stretches of scripted exile? It’s actually a bit of both. You admire how Cooper’s camera lets us eavesdrop on backstage conversations, where encouragement and support for fellow artists abound. It’s as stirring as watching Tess succumb to her desire to return to the thing that defined her as a girl and young woman – volleyball.
She didn’t just play it; we learn she was a star in both college and as a member of the US Olympic team. Now, she wants to coach and is as sure of herself as Alex is with comedy. And old friend Laird (Payton Manning, quite good) is eager to facilitate her request. He’s also a bit smitten and accepts Tess’s offer to take their business meeting to the next level. As can only happen in the movies, they reconvene in a comedy club where, guess who, is just taking the stage. At first, Tess is offended by Alex telling tales out of school about their personal lives. But then, she senses something seductive in Alex’s newfound confidence.
It’s possibly the best bit in the movie and Dern nails it entirely with facial expressions. You’re aware of every notion and emotion running through Tess’s head. It’s terrific acting and it begins to resuscitate what was becoming a code-blue flick. She’s so good, she also causes us to view Alex with less scorn as they literally flirt with rekindling their relationship by re-establishing their spontaneity and impetuous natures. And like naughty teenagers, they conduct their trysts on the sly.
From that point on, I was all in. But I was also perplexed by the sudden shift in my perception. Then, it hit me. It was all Dern. When she’s front and center, “Is This Thing On?” soars. When she’s not, it’s a sluggish ordeal, with the possible exception of a handful of scenes with Ciarán Hines and Christine Ebersole, marvelous as Alex’s long-married parents. I love how Mom sides with Tess, who, in essence, has become the daughter she always wanted. It’s also evident that Mom and Pop project an ideal image of a marriage, one that stirs jealousy and feelings of inadequacy in Alex.
All good stuff, but why must we wait so long to get there in a movie that, at 124 minutes, could have benefited significantly from more aggressive editing. But you forgive that slow start because the back nine is so clever and so stealthily acted. It’s a vast improvement over the self-importance that hampered Cooper’s overrated “Maestro.” I also must praise Arnett. I’ve never been a fan beyond his excellent voice work as Batman in the LEGO movies. But here, he softens the attitude and quells the acid tongue enough to be marginally likable.
For some, that might make it seem like he’s selling out. But I interpret it as a thespian looking to widen his range. Turns out, dramatic acting suits him. And I’d love to see him do more of it, in something more challenging than “Is This Thing On?” where portraying an embittered stand-up comedian isn’t exactly a stretch. He also shares terrific chemistry with Dern, who is infinitely better here than in the insipid “Jay Kelly.”
Still, “Is This Thing On?” could have served both actors better. Like, for instance, not making them wealthy enough to own a home in an upscale Manhattan suburb AND pay the rent on an expensive, albeit nearly empty, apartment in Greenwich Village. Removing the financial burdens makes the road to reconciliation much easier for Alex and Tess, but it also makes it much harder to relate. It’s a misstep for certain, but probably not enough to turn you off to “On.”
Movie review
Is This Thing On?
Rated: R for language throughout, some drug use, sexual references
Cast: Will Arnett, Laura Dern, Andra Day, Bradley Cooper, Amy Sedaris, Sean Hayes, Ciarán Hines and Christine Ebersole
Director: Bradley Cooper
Writers: Will Arnett, Bradley Cooper and Mark Chappell
Runtime: 124 minutes
Where: In theaters Dec. 19
Grade: B-
