Title – Is This Thing On? (2025)

Director – Bradley Cooper (A Star is Born)

Cast – Will Arnett, Laura Dern, Bradley Cooper, Ciarán Hinds, Peyton Manning

Plot – Middle-aged Alex Novak (Arnett) is facing the reality of a marriage breakdown to his wife Tess (Dern) as well as a lack of purpose but potential salvation finds Alex when he starts to partake in New York’s stand-up comedy scene.  

“I was unhappy in our marriage, I wasn’t unhappy with our marriage”

Review by Eddie on 03/06/2026

For his third feature film behind the camera, writer/director/star Bradley Cooper has dialled it back from his pretentious feeling Oscar push realm that weighed down his last directional outing Maestro, to deliver a stripped back and intimate feeling character study Is This Thing On?

Based in part on the life of English comedian John Bishop, with main star Will Arnett leading this project in its early iterations after a chance encounter with the comic inspired him to turn his tale into a feature film, Thing came and went during the awards season of 2025 without a lot of fanfare which is a shame as this simple if unspectacular affair offers up enough to warrant viewer interest.

Following a familiar narrative arc that we’ve all seen done in various forms over times past, Thing follows the exploits of Arnett’s down on his luck soon to be divorced Alex Novak, whose long-term relationship with his partner Tess (a typical solid Laura Dern) is a crumbling mess with salvation coming in the form of the most unlikely of new hobbies for Alex, stand-up comedy.

Wasting little time providing much in the way of backstory or context to Alex’s current predicament, Cooper gets stuck straight into things here, delivering Thing in an almost documentary like fashion as Matthew Libatique’s camera intimately follows Alex along his way as his new world and new life takes shape around him.

Filled with bit parts from the likes of Cooper, beloved Irish actor Ciarán Hinds and even NFL legend Peyton Manning, Thing has a lot going on even when not a lot is going on, with Cooper’s laconic approach to this tale an odd approach with not much room for big character beats or cinematic spectacle, never allowing this formulaic dramedy an opportunity to grow into anything substantial despite its inoffensive attitude.

What stands out here in an otherwise perfectly adequate experience is the performance of Arnett who has never been better in film before than he is as Alex.

Clearly invested in his turn, Arnett shows a depth and understanding rarely seen in his feature length film work and his turn as a man under pressure with a life we’ve all felt the weight of before is clearly his best movie work in a longstanding career in Hollywood and a turn that might’ve gained some form of traction in awards season had it not been such a stacked year for male performers in 2025.

Doing a fine job at capturing the hustle and bustle of New York City life, the troubles of finding one’s place in the world when your years start to stack up behind you and the joy of discovering a whole new side to yourself you didn’t know existed, Thing is an entertaining film that won’t linger too long in the memory.

Final Say –

A step back in the right direction for Cooper the director after the awards baiting Maestro, Is This Thing On? isn’t groundbreaking stuff but thanks to a career turn from Will Arnett, it’s an engaging one throughout its duration.

3 concerned mums out of 5