Is This Thing On?

Following the dissolution of his marriage, Will Arnett seeks solace in a new career as a stand-up comedian in this warm-hearted comedy-drama loosely based on the experiences of real-life comic (and co-scenarist) John Bishop. Wisely, the story is relocated to New York City so that Arnett is spared the indignity of attempting Bishop’s inimitable Liverpool accent.

Director Bradley Cooper operates on a smaller scale than previously, dealing with stand-up comedians as opposed to rock stars (A Star Is Born) or master conductors (Maestro). Thus it feels like a return to the roots, an origin story for an ordinary but talented Joe who gets his break. He’s more interested in the neurotically funny camaraderie of a street-level scene, rather than the curse of individual high-functioning genius.

Director of photography Matthew Libatique keeps the usually handheld camera at a respectful distance during difficult conversations, rather than sticking it in the characters’ faces like a paparazzo. But this puts the onus on the audience to glean the details of those conversations for ourselves, making us complicit and therefore invested in the drama. By contrast, he switches to close-ups when the characters are silent, probing their faces for signs of what they’re really thinking and feeling while the action swirls around them.

There’s a sort of gloomy warmth about the lighting, determinedly forsaking the bright, high-key approach of your average romcom. This more sombre and introspective tone grounds the story in more genuine and believable human emotion. Despite its taking place in the world of comedy, when you get to the bottom of this barrel of laughs there’s no obvious guarantee you’ll find a happy ending.

The dialogue is just as oblique as the camerawork, talking loud but saying nothing half the time. One way or another, Cooper’s designedly shambolic script (co-written with star Arnett and Mark Chappell) expects the audience to read between the (punch)lines, rather than spelling everything out for those who’ve just popped in for a giggle.

It’s nice to see Will Arnett, best known for archly ridiculous but finely detailed comedy supporting roles, playing a dramatic lead for once. He embodies the endearingly crumpled, downtrodden quality of the lovable loser, one who’s struggling to build a creative outlet for his roiling, encrusted emotions.

His actual act, at least in the stark one-shot that captures his completely improvised debut, is a series of raw confessions about the parlous state of his personal life. He’s like a proto-Doug Stanhope in his brutal openness and honesty, albeit initially without any jokes.

You might expect the estranged missus to get short shrift, but the film is generous enough with its narrative attention to follow her side of the argument, and to cast an actress with the calibre and charisma of Laura Dern to grant her depth and personality. She shares such genuine chemistry with Arnett that we catch ourselves wanting them to reconcile, even if it means sacrificing his onstage art.

Is This Thing On? completes a trilogy (so far) of character studies where the protagonist strives (and often fails) to balance the incompatible demands of their personal and artistic lives. On paper this may sound like an off-puttingly self-indulgent project for a movie-star-turned-director, but Bradley Cooper’s unflinching dedication to emotional and psychological authenticity keeps this latest entry compelling from beginning to end, even if it is more a divertimento than a full-scale opera.

-Stew Mott-