Is This Thing On?

“We need to call it, right?” says Tess, played by an exquisite Laura Dern, brushing her teeth before bed. Stepping out of the shower, Will Arnett’s Alex, her husband of 20 years, concurs. Their mutual agreement does not stem from infidelity or a nasty argument, but from honesty and emotional maturity seldom seen in films about divorce. Whatever spark they had fizzled out long ago, they believe, and they must confront that. The third feature directed by Bradley Cooper, Is This Thing On?, presents a portrait of a marriage in crisis; it’s also about how being under a spotlight can have either a therapeutic or destabilizing effect on a relationship. Cooper has already made two other films about how the creative lives of artists can impact their personal relationships, first in A Star Is Born (2018) and again in Maestro (2023). His latest is my favorite of the three, in part because it feels less self-conscious than his previous two, and in part because his characters carry a warmth and geniality that, along with the often riotous humor throughout, makes the experience endearing.

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