Stand-up comedy is a form of therapy. I dunno who first realized this, but there was an entire TV show (“Dr. Katz”) dedicated to that notion in the 1990s. I’m not sure where the state of stand-up is now, but at the time, it was less observational and more introspective. Comedians would derive audience applause by delivering monologues asking -over and over- the question, “What’s wrong with me?” The winner got to return to the stage the next day and reveal it all anew to a brand new set of “therapists.”
This is the very simple premise behind Is This Thing On? Alex (Will Arnett) and Tess (Laura Dern) have separated. Lacking money, or perhaps, modesty, Will signs up for open mic night at a comedy club. [It gets him out of the $15 cover charge.] And then he proceeds to air his dirty laundry in front of strangers. Applause follows. It’s intoxicating. Most applause is. Who needs therapy when you have a hungry audience?
This is how Is This Thing On? plods along. Amiable whatever-the-word-is for “not nonsense.” What could be more real than a sad man telling a cheery audience why he’s sad … and getting applause for it? TBH, Alex doesn’t seem crippled by the process. Most separated men on film are empty shells, realizing only too late how good they had it and that there is no one to blame but themselves. Alex is more of a sad optimist. Things aren’t perfect, no, but I got two ten-year-olds in my world and, HEY, isn’t “comedy” fun?
Alex has a stand-up act that needs both humor and polish. In fact, I didn’t laugh a single time at any “joke” he told on stage. Almost all of the humor in the film comes from writer/director Bradley Cooper as Alex’s idiot friend. Well, that and the sage and aggressive ordering by two ten-year-olds that dad “should have goals!” Between the two adult men in the film, one would normally guess that Bradley Cooper would play the straight man and Will Arnett the fool, yes? I am conditioned to Will Arnett playing
the fool to such an extent that I honestly didn’t realize he was capable of deeper emotion. Hence, this role feels like a tour-de-force whether it actually is one or not. For whatever else can be said about this picture, it gave us a Will Arnett capable of capturing hearts very unlike any other performance Will Arnett has ever given.
One big quibble I had with Is This Thing On? is the fact that we never got to see the underlying issues of why Alex and Tess split. I’d just-as-soon avoid them at the start of the film. People split uo all the time, does it really matter why? Do we need to see the bile? However, by the end of the film, the reasons they broke up become extremely important and the film not quite delivering the “Why?” is a huge red flag. I can’t help feeling this is a deliberately underwhelming film – a mediocre man in a mediocre milieu behaving mediocrely. It’s not exactly Shakespeare, now, is it? Heck, it’s a far cry from Cooper’s last film about Leonard Bernstein … but I like this film much better.
A recently estranged married man
Took to stand up in The City as his plan
For he and wife split
Their separation? A hit!
Now if he can only get his “therapists” not to pan
Rated R, 121 Minutes
Director: Bradley Cooper
Writer: Bradley Cooper, Will Arnett, Mark Chappell
Genre: Next on the couch in Dr Katz’s office
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: People who appreciate relationship nuance
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: “We were on a BREAK!”
