Review by Eric Hillis
Directed by: Bradley Cooper
Starring: Will Arnett, Laura Dern, Bradley Cooper, Andra Day, Amy Sedaris, Sean Hayes, Christine Ebersole, Ciarán Hinds
Hollywood star Bradley Cooper and Liverpudlian comic John Bishop aren't the first two names you would put together, but Cooper's latest directorial outing is inspired by the story of Bishop's origins in the UK comedy scene. While going through a messy divorce, Bishop ended up performing on stage in a Liverpool comedy club one night, simply because he didn't want to pay the cover charge. Bishop was shocked to discover he had a knack for stand-up, and the rest is history.
Cooper has transferred the story to New York and cast co-writer Will Arnett as Bishop surrogate Alex, who is going through a relatively adult and amicable divorce from his wife Tess (Laura Dern). Like Bishop, Alex finds himself on stage at the city's famous Comedy Cellar one night when he needs a drink but doesn't want to pay the $15 cover charge. His set is messy but gets a few laughs, and Alex is thrilled by the rush of performing. He's egged on by the club's regular comics, who recognise his raw potential, and he starts performing on a regular basis.
Given the heavy influence of Bob Fosse on Cooper's previous directorial efforts A Star is Born and Maestro, you might expect Is This Thing On? to be Cooper's Lenny. Thematically and visually, however, Cooper's film has little in common with Fosse's Lenny Bruce biopic. For a start, Alex doesn't have the stage presence of Bruce, and his comedy routines are based on self-deprecation rather than attacking society. Alex uses his routines as a form of therapy, confessing his feelings about his wife and the mess he feels he's made of his life. Fosse cleverly used his camera positioning to reflect Bruce's state of mind, using tight close-ups when he was on top and wide shots that made the comic appear alone and isolated on a large stage when Bruce was on a downer. Cooper has no such visual instincts, always shooting Alex with the same intense handheld close-ups. If you watch Lenny with the sound off you can tell what Dustin Hoffman's protagonist is feeling at any time, but Cooper never cuts through Alex's facade in the same manner. It's all tell, rather than show, with everything we learn about Alex coming from his on-stage rants. Even then we're still unclear what he really wants from life.
Alex seems to want to get back with Tess, and when she discovers his new talent she is suddenly attracted to her husband in a way she hasn't felt for a long time. The two even begin secretly hooking up behind the backs of their two young boys (who are improbably young for the children of fiftysomethings Arnett and Dern) and their friend group, which includes an entertaining Cooper as a permanently stoned actor. There's something amusing about a husband and wife essentially having an affair with one another, but the film never quite gives us enough evidence that Alex and Tess should get back together. They're like all those estranged couples in '90s disaster movies who rekindle their relationships for the sake of a climactic kiss amid rubble to send the audience out on a cheap high. I didn't believe Helen Hunt and Bill Paxton should reunite just because they survived a tornado, or that Dustin Hoffman and Rene Russo should reassert their love because they thwarted a pandemic, and I don't feel Alex and Tess belong together simply because the former's stand-up routines make the latter all hot and bothered. Why can't Hollywood movies simply allow people to get divorced and remain friends?
Is This Thing On? is more successful when it focusses its attention on Alex's comic aspirations. Like his A Star is Born remake, Cooper's best scenes here are those that play out on stage. I didn't find Alex's routines especially funny, but the movie convinces us that his audience is won over, and there is an electrical charge to Arnett's performance. There's a sports movie quality to Is This Thing On?'s underdog narrative, but Cooper doesn't seem interested in making that movie. The divorce drama proves a distraction from Alex's attempts to make it in the comedy world, and the stand-up becomes an afterthought in the film's later portions. Alex's nascent comedy career gives way to the far less engaging divorce subplot, and the former is dropped while the latter gets a schmaltzy wrap-up involving a high school performance of 'Under Pressure'. To use the sports movie analogy, it's akin to a baseball biopic climaxing at the Super Bowl.
Is This Thing On? is in UK/ROI cinemas from January 30th.
