Film Review: Is This Thing On?

 

Sexuality/Nudity Mature

Violence Acceptable

Vulgarity Mature

Anti-Catholic Philosophy Mature

(I know it's been a while since I did a full review.  I've done a lot of mini-reviews because sitting down and doing a full review takes a bit more detail and effort.  MY time in formation has been eating up a lot of my time that I would normally spend on this blog.  I am going to try setting aside more time to make up for that).

Bradley Cooper is a very competent director.  I think that if he is given the right script, he could go to good to great.  A Star is Born has some great moments, but falls short in the end.  In Is This Thing On? he tells the story of a man meandering through life as his marriage falls apart.  

The problem is that the movie meanders too much with him.

The movie follows Alex Novak (Will Arnett) as his marriage falls apart with Tess (Laura Dern).  Alex moves out of his house to the city.  One night, he wanders into a bar, but doesn't have the cash for the cover charge but notices that people who sign up for the comedy club's open mic get in for free.  Alex goes up and does a set where he vents about how terrible his life is to tepid laughs.  But he finds himself coming back and slowly connecting to the other comedians as he grows in his confidence and skill on stage.  Meanwhile, Tess begins to build a life after Alex.  Things come to a head when she goes on a date and ends up at that club where she doesn't know that Alex is performing stand-up about the end of their marriage.  What happens next is something I will not spoil, but it was not what I was expecting.

One of the things that this movie captures is the awkward family dynamic that happens when a marriage falls apart.  As a child of divorce, there was an odd familiarity to the emotional tone of what was happening.  I remember splitting time between parents in those early days: one living at home and the other living in an apartment.  This film gets that odd balancing act where the children are ping-ponged back and forth and the awkwardness of that persisting relationship between the man and woman.

The best thing about this film by far is Arnett.  This is the best I've ever seen him.  He is an incredibly gifted comic.  But here, you can see his dramatic muscles at work.  What works so well is the confluence between his dramatic and comedic sensibilities.  He gives a performance that is so raw that every joke and quip belies the pain and sadness welling up in his heart.  For that reason, no matter how vulgar he gets or how poor his decisions become, you cannot help but root for him.

Dern is also great in her role.  She lets you see her deep unhappiness and apprehension at starting this new life.  But I couldn't help be horribly frustrated by her character (not her performance).  It is very clear that the separation is not Alex's idea, but Tess'.  And as flawed as Alex is, there is nothing that justifies her throwing away her marriage.  Dern plays all of her conflicting emotions very well, but despite her complexities, I could not helping judging her more than the filmmakers probably intended.  When Alex ends up sleeping with a female comedian, I felt pity for him in his lost wandering.  When Tess goes on a first date, I felt like she was betraying Alex.  Perhaps this double standard speaks more about me than the film, but my wife had the same impression.

Part of the frustration is how dysfunctional all of the relationships are.  Tess and Alex make a big deal about hanging out with their friends, but all of them are so unlikeable that you don't enjoy spending time with them.  It seemed to highlight to me how individual marriages need exterior support from the Church, from marriage groups, and from friendships with other devoted, married couples.  

Admittedly, though, marriages and relationships are messy.  And the movie captures that messiness.  But it also captures how when husbands and wives lose graciousness and forgiveness, the bonds of that relationship begin to dissolve.

This could all work very well, if the middle of the movie didn't feel like it was meandering and not going anywhere.  I began to want the movie to come to its resolution more quickly.  However, the charm of the movie is also in its meandering and exploration of the comedy world.  It was fascinating to look behind that curtain and watch the evolution of Alex's comedy bits.  It actually takes a great deal of skill to write increasingly funny material.

There is much to admire inside of Is This Thing On?, but so much of it gets diluted by the material that doesn't work.  Like a comedian perfecting a joke, this movie could have used a little more refining.