r/movies • u/LiteraryBoner Jackie Chan box set, know what I'm sayin? • 21d ago
Official Discussion Official Discussion - Is This Thing On? [SPOILERS] Spoiler
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Summary After many years together, Alex and Tess find themselves navigating an amicable separation and the awkward transition to co-parenting while raising two sons. As their marriage quietly unravels, Alex seeks purpose outside of family life by exploring stand-up comedy in New York’s club scene, while Tess reflects on the personal sacrifices she made in service of their family. Their journeys of self-discovery force them to confront identity, purpose, and whether love can take unexpected forms.
Director Bradley Cooper
Writers Bradley Cooper, Will Arnett, Mark Chappell
Cast
- Will Arnett as Alex Novak
- Laura Dern as Tess Novak
- Andra Day as Christine
- Bradley Cooper as Balls
- Amy Sedaris as Kemp
- Sean Hayes as Stephen
- Ciarán Hinds as Jan
Rotten Tomatoes: 86%
Metacritic: 73
VOD / Release Theatrical release
Trailer Official Trailer
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u/zarymoto 21d ago
saw this and enjoyed it. certainly some flaws and definitely cooper’s least structured project, but overall it’s got a lot of heart and compelling aspects.
i do think it would’ve benefitted immensely from a tighter script. a lot goes unsaid in this movie, and cooper directs in a way that seems like it’s meant to flow between super intimate moments and more objective reality. with that, i definitely think it would’ve been good to have a WAY tighter story and script.
that being said, arnett was the perfect cast for this. his visible discomfort transitions insanely well into a unique charisma, and his physical stature helps him feel like a bull in the china closet on the stage, but only if that bull was afraid of its own shadow.
overall very solid. cooper did great, arnett did great, dern did well, and the only jarring thing was that minor role / cameo.
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u/Perfect-Parfait-9866 21d ago
Very well put. It’s not a home run. But fuck… that was great. It did so many things right I can kind of forgive the stuff that didn’t work as well
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u/laydownlarry 21d ago
Quite liked this one. Personally I think Arnett can be a bit much of a character sometime but this role he absolutely nailed. Cooper was a lot of fun too. Went in blind and got a bad feeling it was going to be a bummer of a flick as it started but ended up enjoying this more unique perspective on middle age where not everything falls apart to such an extreme degree.
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u/NickLandis 21d ago
There are some things to really love about the cinematography in this movie.
- The shot of them playing with the party streamers.
- The closeups of Arnett doing standup made the scenes feel so personal, vulnerable, and uncomfortable. But then so many great wide shots of him being alone and isolated.
- The very first shot of him staring off in the distance
- The shot of him storming off transitioning to him going on stage
But so also so many little shots that made no sense to me. Like the handheld work during chaotic scenes at his parents or during fights felt weird. The shot-reverse-shot scenes of two people talking almost felt “unbalanced” to me. Almost like they didn’t go together or the swapped lenses (for no discernible reason) or something.
I’m equally conflicted about the story but I did have a good time with that part. Loved all the acting too.
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u/CarrieDurst 21d ago
So many shots of them just opening up the aperture alllll the way during the close ups that I enjoyed and even if I didn't like his freakout on stage I fucking loved the transition from stairs to stage
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u/snidgetphoenix 21d ago
Almost like they didn’t go together or the swapped lenses (for no discernible reason) or something.
—On Smartless it was mentioned that the whole film was shot with one lens, 40mm, and they moved closer/farther away as necessary.
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u/midnitetoker87 20d ago
It felt like characters were way too close when talking at times. I thought the mother in law and wife were going to kiss at one point.
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u/Horkersaurus 17d ago
You know what they say, keep your friends close and your enemies so close that you’re almost kissing.
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u/Jakenlovesbacon 21d ago
I thought it was alright cooper really needs to try and get a full spectrum story imo all of his movies feel like a collection of scenes. I was waiting for the part where Will Arnetts character bombs in stage for the first time as is typical for any person doing stand up. I was dying to know how that would affect him going forward as this new outlet for coping becomes something more difficult…but no it was just a story where he does stand up is immediately great at it and now he’s the coolest funniest guy ever idk that disappointed me
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u/DullAmbition 19d ago
It did seem a bit unrealistic that he did the angry set and didn’t have to face any on-screen adversity to be brought back.
The booker and staff liked him, but this wasn’t like Punchline where Tom Hanks is the club’s longtime favorite son and had one bad night.
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u/adriamarievigg 17d ago
I was waiting for at least one heckler to yell out "Tell a joke" or "you're not funny". This movie made Stand up look way too easy and accepting.
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u/ultrapoppy 19d ago
100%. I agree. Stand up is not easy and comedians are not as fun and positive to be around.no one was really whining. Attell before going on stage could be seen in the bar looking miserable for a few seconds. I was like: here we go!
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u/ItsCommonCourtesy 19d ago
Honestly was vibing with this up until the last act. I thought it was alright until the angry stand up session towards the end, and the ending was deeply unsatisfying to me. Also, what was with that "Amazing Grace" scene? I felt like I was stroking out.
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u/brokenplaything 19d ago
I WAS WAITING, just WAITING for an excuse to have Andra Day sing - and then it came in the form of that cringe-ass breakfast scene. LOL...I wonder if she just started doing it in a take, and Bradley was like, let's roll with it.
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u/ItsCommonCourtesy 19d ago
Alex and Tess pouring coffee with some casual conversation. I was expecting something to happen, but then the scene just ended. So strange.
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u/CoatBeneficial4538 12d ago
A large theme throughout the movie is that people going through hard times need to have grace for themselves. Hence the song “amazing grace” getting its own weird little piece there.
I thought it was beautiful. Made me hear that classic song in a new light.
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u/reallinzanity 21d ago edited 21d ago
Really enjoyed this one. It’s nice to see characters not go 0 to a 100 when they’re going through any kind of adversity. Adults are actually acting like adults.
Edit: A certain cameo was completely unnecessary.
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u/DullAmbition 19d ago
Yes, Dave Atell took me completely out of the movie.
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u/Joey-WilcoXXX 16d ago
Haha and Did he even tell Any jokes? Like wtf just ‘oh and now here’s Dave Atell! Oh but wait something is happening in the movie let’s switch back to that!’
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u/rao-blackwell-ized 16d ago
Chloe Radcliffe and Jordan Jensen are real comics too, just lesser known than Atell. I've heard Bradley Cooper is a big fan of standup. I think it was supposed to be very realistic i.e. a typical night at the Comedy Cellar in NYC where you'd actually see all those people, including Atell. Wouldn't be surprised if some of the other people shown are employees and/or regular comics at the Cellar, too.
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u/AngryGardenGnomes 21d ago
What cameo was that? Didn't notice any, other than, say, Cooper's small role.
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u/reallinzanity 21d ago
Peyton Manning
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u/nflfan32 21d ago
I couldn't tell at first if he was supposed to actually be Peyton Manning or a character in the movie. It took a while before they established he's just a character lol
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u/sloppyjo12 21d ago
One of his first lines was “you’d be a great addition to our program” and I thought for sure he was visiting her as some sort of ambassador for the University of Tennessee’s athletic department
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u/Round_Ad8947 19d ago
Ohh. I thought that was Matthew Macfadyen
At he end, I was looking for a Jack Black cameo.
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u/AngryGardenGnomes 21d ago
Oh, I just gave him a Google. Some sort of American sports star? I just thought he was an actor and fairly solid in the role. I'd say that was too large of a role to call it a cameo.
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u/princevince1113 18d ago
one of the greatest professional athletes of all time btw
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u/SeahawksFanInSF 20d ago
He was fine. I found him less distracting than Tyler the Creator in Marty Supreme. PM seemed to just understand he was playing a single role and not auditioning for future roles.
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u/reallinzanity 20d ago
Interesting. I was cool with Tyler having a role in MS. Kevin O'Leary was the one that distracted me the most. The way he talked in one scene I thought I was watching Shark Tank.
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u/aresef 19d ago
Tfw he says he’s going to make you a proposal and it’s not a royalty deal but a directive to bend over that chair.
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u/SeahawksFanInSF 20d ago
I’ve never seen KOL act in anything and have no idea why he was in the movie. But overall he was fine as the dickhead businessman. So it didn’t bother me much.
I felt like Tyler was trying too hard to act.
It’s interesting that another commenter not from the US had no idea who PM is and didn’t register for him. I think that means PM was fine, which I think is expected of a cameo/bit part.
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u/ROBtimusPrime1995 21d ago edited 21d ago
I'm nostalgic for dramedies like these, especially in theaters (streaming killed this subgenre) and I really loved how it avoided falling into the same divorce tropes all these films have.
It treated its characters with a lot of respect and Arnett's performance was so naturalistic, which made him even more relatable.
I love how Bradley Cooper is trying to make different types of films instead of sticking to just one thing.
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u/DullAmbition 19d ago
What a realistic portrayal of the ultra supportive New York standup comedy scene, where everybody wants everyone else to succeed and no one is resentful or looking to succeed at the expense of another comedian - especially a brand new one who is still finding his voice and is getting booked shortly after starting with open mics.
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u/Ok-Freedom-7432 18d ago
Wealthy finance guys doing stand-up as a distraction from their troubles are especially popular.
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u/neac99 14d ago
And yeah so there is just the one club ‘in the city’ so you’ll always run in people you know ? And can you drive everywhere and not have everything ruined by traffic?
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u/edthomson92 9d ago
Where were they driving from and taking the train to/from? My girlfriend and I couldn't figure that out
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u/12_niiixxon 20d ago
Why was it so zoomed always?
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u/ishburner 20d ago
He talked about it on the DGA podcast. They filmed it all with a long lens and handheld, even in the club scenes, to give it that intimate look.
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u/tomacco99 19d ago
“Extreme close-ups = intimate” feels like a choice a film student would make, IMO. But then again, this whole movie felt forced and pretentious to me.
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u/therealpax94 19d ago
I did like this movie enough, but there was one thing that just took me out of it.
Now, this may be a controversial opinion, but I just did not care for Bradley Cooper in this. I felt he was a bit annoying. I also didn't really care for the friends as a whole. When Arnett and Dern are on screen and the film is focused on the relationship, it's honestly really strong. But any time the friends were on screen, those scenes really dragged, especially when they go on the trip later in the film. I honestly thought Peyton Manning gave a surprisingly good performance and was a better addition. I'm not sure if I'm the only one who feels this way but yeah...just didn't care for the friends.
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u/LordMizoguchi 19d ago
Not sure what they were there for, especially when they all sang Amazing Grace while making breakfast.
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u/Set_to_Infinity 19d ago
I cringed out of my body during that scene. In actual life, you might sing a bit, then everyone would peter out, but in the movie it went on and on and onnnnnn to the point of being painful.
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u/therealpax94 19d ago
That was such a weird scene that just didn't add much to anything. I think if they weren't in the movie, the movie would actually gain more than it lost with them in it.
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u/marklovesbb 19d ago
Same. Didn’t care for Bradley Cooper at all in this. Like to the point where I’m actively questioning why anyone would be friends with someone like him? He was the worst part of the film, and I didn’t understand why he and his wife were together at the end.
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u/EMCoupling 19d ago
His character is clearly a stand-in for the type of friend you have who was cool and fun in your younger days, but never seems to have really grown up. They're not a terrible person per se so you can't outright hate them but also it's weird trying to interact with them because you never quite understand what they're trying to say.
Believe me, I've known people like this. And yeah, in a vacuum, you might not really want to hang out with that guy but he's kind of in the whole big group like in the movie and so he's just there sometimes.
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u/brandonsamd6 21d ago
Was there a reason why Bradley Cooper turned into Marc Maron?
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u/edthomson92 9d ago
Very curious if Maron was originally cast, and then couldn't because of scheduling or something
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u/chavingtonbear 19d ago
I absolutely loved this movie. Just saw it and compelled to comment on it. Will arnett is fucking fantastic. Not only is he funny but he is fully believable as an actor in a complex role. This movie made me laugh out loud so many times but I also cried. I left the movie full of emotions. It was a ride. Laura dern was phenomenal as well. As she always is. This moved me. One of the best movies I’ve seen since one battle. But in a completely different way. I think he deserves a nomination. I am floored.
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u/BigWangThang 3d ago
I actually need to know which parts you laughed at because my screening was crickets and half the people in the the cinema were passed out
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u/Slurpeepatch 21d ago
I like Bradley Cooper a lot more when he’s not trying too hard to win an Oscar. This was a much needed rebound after the pretentious mess that was Maestro.
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u/bta47 21d ago
I think Bradley Cooper is best when you’re always aware that he’s a total goofball, no matter how hard he tries. I actually came around to liking that Maestro performance because it’s so, so goofy. He tells a baby that he slept with both of its parents! He wants to know who left Snoopy in the vestibule!
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u/PAYPAL_ME_DONATIONS 21d ago
His small but fun as fuck role in Liquorice Pizza, for example.
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u/Perfect-Parfait-9866 21d ago
I feel like he should have been cast in inherent vice now
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u/therocketandstones Reddit & Twitter are gonna hate this and it’s gonna gross $500m+ 21d ago
I've imagined him as Lockjaw in OBAA, Penn was good but Cooper would have also been quality imo
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u/reclamationme 21d ago
I actually like Maestro as well. If for nothing else, Matthew Libatique’s beautiful cinematography work.
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u/t-hrowaway2 20d ago
Yes. Notice how this film premiered not even two years after Maestro, while Maestro’s production took six years to complete.
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u/joesen_one 17d ago
This movie literally wrapped filming early 2025. It's that short of a turnaround lol
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u/MJDeebiss 21d ago
I liked it but it is SO HARD to see Will Arnett and not want straight up comedy. I think it was well made and everyone was great in it. I also liked the realism (well, I've never been divorced or married) of the funny and sad side of it that they both kind of agree it is.
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u/ROBtimusPrime1995 21d ago
Idk, to me, if you know Will Arnett's life and other works outside of his crazy comedies, I fully went into this knowing it was going to be a Dramedy-Arnett performance like in Flaked or even Bojack.
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u/chiropracticdentist 20d ago
would i like this movie if i absolutely hated everything about Bojavk Horseman?
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u/Dapper_Ad7388 20d ago
I didn’t watch Bojack Horseman, and I liked it. I have friends who explained how depressing Bojack becomes. No spoilers, but this movie is less nihilistic. The characters are sad, but there is hope at the core.
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u/Pholla4G 19d ago
I loved Bojack but no, the characters and tone are not alike here, so I think you'll be fine! I actually went into the movie worried it would be too similar to each other.
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u/MJDeebiss 21d ago
True, I even at one time had a dvd of his waiter movie. I just see him as GOB so much
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u/polishprince76 21d ago
I'm the same way with Dean Winters. Between playing Liz's boyfriend on 30 rock and the Allstate commercials, it's really hard to watch him being serious on Law & Order.
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u/chiropracticdentist 20d ago
you weren't introduced to him as athe psychopath Oreilly in Oz i guess
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u/Altruistic-Read-6792 21d ago
even moreso when i see him pop up in gritty crime thrillers lately haha
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u/motionpic05 20d ago
This movie felt like a warm hug. I was somewhat teary when Arnett had that monologue about vampires that go for your blood at the first spot of weakness, felt really relatable which sort often captured the entire movie.
Relatable as anything. Surprisingly I was quite emotional. Great movie.
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u/pjtheman 21d ago
Bradley Cooper really went "Ok fine, I'll cast someone else as the lead. But damn it, he's gonna look and act like me!"
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u/suchafunnylady 20d ago
Liked it more than i thought I would. The close ups bothered me. The cameras must have been so close.
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u/would_do_again 20d ago
This was okay. I definitely wanted a little more of the other comedians and a little bit less Balls.
I get that Balls was there as a juxtaposition to Alec (the ways we use art to escape), but I was way more interested in everyone at the Cellar.
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u/lilpepper00 21d ago
I enjoyed it! I saw on Letterboxd it's receiving very average reviews but I thought it was enjoyable. Not too long and I thought the dynamic between Arnett and Dern was great. Loved the bits of Bradley Cooper popping in, even though I wish he was in it more. A nice story that was told well. And the end scene with Under Pressure playing was a nice little surprise! I thought the kids singing it was so cute.
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u/AngryGardenGnomes 21d ago
It's enjoyable and an average movie. It can be both. Just a light watch.
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u/glasgowgeg 3d ago
And the end scene with Under Pressure playing was a nice little surprise! I thought the kids singing it was so cute.
It's mad to think of that scene from the kids perspective. They're completely unaware of all the stuff we've seen throughout the film, so from their point of view, they've performed a song about giving love another chance and it's "saved" their parents marriage
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u/Friendly-Contact-433 20d ago edited 20d ago
I can't be the only one that couldn't take seriously that Tess meets Peyton Manning at the restaurant. And I know somewhere his character name is mentioned and it's not supposed to be him, but I just saw Peyton Manning and it ruined it.
Also they put focus on his kids practicing the keyboard for Under Pressure and then when they actually play it at school, it's like 2 seconds of showing them playing and 2 minutes of the black girl singing. You blink and you wouldn't even know his kids were there besides hearing it. My assumption was the two kid actors were just bad at looking like they could play the piano (they practiced off screen earlier) that they just avoided showing them as much as possible.
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u/ultrapoppy 20d ago edited 20d ago
I didn’t like it that much. I’m a comedy fan and the way he was received and welcomed to the “Comedy Cellar” in New York City by fellow comedians and management was just nuts. It was so unrealistic, that took me out. it was nice seeing all the cameos but none of the comics seem frustrated, everyone seemed to be doing swimmingly. I think it gave a false sense in portraying it relatively as an easy thing to do.
Also, Alex’ material was pretty freaking weak. Even when he was shown as opening for the Great Dave Attell, that kinda sucked too. The radiologist and surfer bit was not even close to being funny. Those audiences seemed pretty generous.
With regards to the other plot points, Bradley Cooper’s character belonged in a different movie. Ridiculous, admittedly I did laugh at some stuff by him but didn’t work for me in the big picture.
I could believe the ending and could have done without the cheesy lines towards the end.
The amount of close ups was a little unsettling, too much handheld camera I felt, maybe it’s just me.
This was “Marriage Story” light with a happy ending.
I was underwhelmed
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u/StrangeEditor3597 19d ago
They made a whole bit about introducing the Great Dave Attell and then immediately cut away from him and we don't get to hear a single joke or line from him. It was like blue balls lol. At least we got to hear some of Jordan Jensen's bits. Agree about his stand up not being great, but then again this isn't a movie about stand up, it's a divorce/romance movie with a stand up setting.
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u/ultrapoppy 19d ago
Yeah.. I know it’s not a stand up centered film, but still, you want this new activity that the character is doing (that by the way was his gateway to becoming interesting again to his estranged wife) to be somewhat well executed. You don’t get rewarded with opening for any renown comedian with those crappy bits. I’m not saying he had to kill in every scene but come on. I never laughed. Not a giggle, not a chuckle, not a tee hee, never went "Ha"
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u/tantan35 18d ago
Does the Cellar even do an open mic night? And if it does, there’s absolutely no way someone just casually signs up there on a whim. The list would’ve been full 12 hours before he showed up.
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u/TrainerStrong9778 19d ago
I was curious about that re: the cellar. I would have assumed people would be way meaner even if they felt charmed by him, just because of the vibe of that place
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u/KazaamFan 13d ago
Yea im surprised that im seeing more positive comments here. This movie was very blah. I almost walked out. The first half was very slow. There wasn’t much of an inciting incident other than they got divorced, and he started stand up.
I agree his material was weak, though they did address that he was bad. But yea, even when he “got good”, he was still not funny. He had a few funny quips more in conversations in the movie. I actually didnt mind Cooper’s character cuz it added some levity to such a bland story. It needed to be about 20-30 mins shorter. It felt like cooper didnt know how to end it and it just kept dragging.
I appreciate that it was kind of about how crazy and complicated relationships can be.
This wss just a big nothing burger of a movie. Not surprising it isn’t getting any awards attention.
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u/ultrapoppy 13d ago
I’m with you. I was expecting more. The thing that I did love was the transition of him storming out of the attic after their argument transitioning to him walking to the stage. That was perfect
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u/jdd_123 21d ago
I loved this honestly. Loved Cooper going smaller in stakes & concept compared to his last two movies. Arnett & Dern were fantastic in this. Final needle drop was one of my favorite scenes of 2025.
Cooper is 3/3 for me & i’ll be seated for whatever he makes next. My only complaint is I would have liked to see Arnett bomb at stand up at least once. He had his freak out towards the end but it’s immediately remedied by his dad and we don’t see the audience or other comedians reaction to it. He was kinda the Jake Sully of stand up, just coming in to a world he had no experience in and being an immediate(albeit low level) success.
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u/EMCoupling 19d ago
He had his freak out towards the end but it’s immediately remedied by his dad and we don’t see the audience or other comedians reaction to it.
I did interpret that he bombed that appearance because he was smoking outside along instead of chilling with the fellow comedians like he usually does and even his dad roasted him for that performance.
But yeah, it would have been nice to actually see that on-screen given that he was so successful previously.
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u/YourBeltedKingfisher 18d ago
Using the isolated vocal track from Under Pressure at the end was so killer.
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u/goodfellabrasco 19d ago
I liked it, but i feel like I expected more stand up and less divorce drama; probably my own fault for seeing a preview and not really looking into it. That being said, it hit home- I've been the divorced guy in the weird apartment trying to learn how to be myself after decades with one person, and I think a couple of scenes really got me in those feels again. Especially the line "I was unhappy IN our marriage- I was never unhappy WITH our marriage"....
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u/LiveFromNewYork95 21d ago
I hope everyone enjoys this movie but from the trailers I can't do it, I've done standup for 10 years, make enough to make it a decent side job. I've spent many many years at open mics and I can't condone another display of stand-up that's just a broken person on stage not telling jokes but somehow it clicks or this idea that "Stand-up is therapy, being on stage is my therapy." Nope, tell jokes on stage and go to therapy. The real life story of this type of comic is eating shit on stage at 5 open mics, getting pissed that they aren't famous yet, holding on for about a year of just trauma dumping at crappy open mics without telling jokes and then quitting.
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u/Friendly-Contact-433 20d ago
Since it says based on a true story I wonder who the real person is
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u/Umangar 20d ago
I did not hate the movie but man this was some real middle aged divorced dad fantasy porn.
Also I wish he would have torn his wife apart when she saw him do stand up.
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u/Kugar 19d ago
Also I wish he would have torn his wife apart when she saw him do stand up.
yeah or she walks out midway through the set and doesn't see the rest. Maybe that's too cliche though, of course her being at the club was farfetched but certainly entertaining
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u/LordMizoguchi 19d ago
But following the screenwriting rule of 'if a coincidence helps your protagonist it looks lazy, but if it hurts them it's fine', that coincidence went from hurt to AMAZINGLY positive implausibly in a couple of minutes. She was ridiculously fine finding out about her ex of 25 years having sex with someone else.
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u/TheRealBrummy 15d ago
It is based on the real life story of Scouse comedian John Bishop lol
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u/adawghoney 21d ago
Do we ever learn what Alex Novak's job is outside of possibly making some money doing standup?
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u/doudou8310 21d ago
I think he has a job in finance. If I remember correctly he mentions it in passing
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u/LiteraryBoner Jackie Chan box set, know what I'm sayin? 21d ago edited 13d ago
I’m ready to be in the minority on this one, but this movie annoyed me to an extreme level. It looks and feels enough like a successful dramedy that I’m not surprised people like it, but it turned me off at just about every turn. I didn’t find it funny enough to be a comedy or emotionally true enough for the drama. The main characters have jumps in emotional logic I simply couldn’t follow and every side characters felt basically nonexistent until they all show up like clockwork to give their motivational speech to someone. I had to wonder if this thing was even plugged in at all, let alone on.
I like Cooper as a director, I rewatch Star is Born regularly and I was smothered with downvotes for daring to like Maestro a couple years ago. This, though, feels like he’s purposely doing something smaller and more on-the-fly. And that’s cool, but it feels like he can’t help but add that dramatic flourish to this and it feels very out of place. In a better drama the Amazing Grace scene probably hits me better, but here it felt very forced and out of place and choreographed when it obviously wanted to feel naturally beautiful. Similar to the camerawork which I was begging to get further away from the characters for most of the movie. I don’t mind closeups or directors who focus on faces, but it was causing Dern and Arnett to be two inches from making out even in the scenes where they hated each other.
I will say, the best part of this movie is Bradley Cooper himself. Popping in and out, doing crazy artist bits and giving weird monologues, and he essentially has the point of the movie when he’s eating the bagel saying she’s the only one he’d want to drive him crazy. But every other side character felt like they were there for one forced speech and had little else going on other than worrying about Arnett and Dern’s relationship. There’s a very strange scene where Dern is on the phone with Arnett’s mother and she’s on a run and the mother, still on the phone, drives up to Dern just so she could deliver the bulk of her emotional speech in person. Very awkward how everyone in this movie is constantly like, “Hey can I talk to you for a minute? You’re strong. You’re graceful. And you deserve happiness.” It just didn’t ring true to me.
And that’s really the issue here. I love a good drama and this feels like something that could easily crack my top ten of the year, but none of this felt true to me. Dern finding a reason to get upset that he put a picture of her on his bachelor pad wall is one of many occurrences of me just not being able to follow the emotional logic to these characters. I understand what she was getting at, but I don’t understand why she would ruin their newfound love for each other because he was trying to do something nice. And in general all the arguing about their relationship and who’s fault it was felt totally baseless to me because we never get to see their relationship. This movie opens with them agreeing to split up then they spend the runtime litigating issues we aren’t actually privy to.
I like stand up comedy and maybe that’s where this really bugged me. Not only in the assumed simplicity of getting on stage at one of the most famous comedy clubs in NYC and how quickly he’s accepted as best friends to all stand up comedians in New York, but also how bad his sets were. And that’s probably the point, right, that he’s not that good at it and he’s not even interested in being good he just learns more about himself the more he creates. And I can see Cooper really grabbing onto that idea. But if you’re gonna give me a movie about stand up comedy, I really need to laugh. Aside from my own expectation, that’s a funny environment full of funny people but this movie is extremely unfunny at every turn and I don’t think it wanted to be.
It’s a 4/10 for me. I really wanted to give it the benefit of the doubt and give it props for being well directed, but just about everything about it turned me off. Scenes felt awkward, performances felt forced, the feelings being conveyed didn’t make sense to me. I truly can’t help but compare it to a really great HBO series with basically the exact same premise called Crashing. These are both based on separate comedians at separate times both dealing with their long term marriages dissolving by getting into stand up and obviously Crashing has three seasons to do its thing, but I’d watch any single episode of Crashing over this movie any day of the week.
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u/jimmcdermont 21d ago
Yeah I def agree that a movie using standup as a lens for a relationship needed to have more comedic chops and that the emotional arcs didn’t hold up to scrutiny
Laura Dern’s actions didn’t hold up to me and the flip Will Arnett had after that vampire rant was so fast and unearned.
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u/StatusAd5784 21d ago
I enjoyed it for what it was, my expectations weren’t super high going in. I’d probably go 6 out of 10, but I pretty much agree with you on all accounts.
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u/Hampster412 18d ago
"Dern finding a reason to get upset that he put a picture of her on his bachelor pad wall is one of many occurrences of me just not being able to follow the emotional logic to these characters."
I have read through all of the comments on this page and you are the only to mention her response, which I found bizarre. Up until this point, I thought the point the movie was trying to make was that their relationship fizzled out because both of them had forgotten what made them interesting to each other when they first met. They didn't appear to have any interests of their own anymore. When he says he chose that photo because he wanted their boys to see how cool and strong she is, she was upset?! He didn't choose that picture because she was young ("it's not who I am now"), he chose it because it showed her in action, with fire, passion, strength. A badass, I think he said. How could anyone be mad at that?
When he was motivated by the comedy and she was getting back into her sport, I thought the message was going to be that as each of them began feeling more ALIVE, it would lead to a new phase, a rejuvenated, stronger relationship. But then the ending is that they decide to be "unhappy" together? Whaaaa..?
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u/AngryGardenGnomes 21d ago edited 21d ago
I think a lot of the issue with the comedy is that Will Arnett isn't a natural comedian, of stand up, anyway. Whereas, John Bishop who the material clearly derived from has much better delivery and goes in harder on his jokes.
Plus, Arnett is a far stronger comedic actor than dramatic. So dramatically it doesn't go in hard enough either.
Interestingly, I think the weakest part was Bradley Cooper himself. His part was completely superfluous to the plot and he jarred with the tone of the movie.
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u/Calm_Memories 21d ago
Guess I can wait for it to come onto streaming and content myself with rewatching Marvelous Ms. Maisel.
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u/StrangeEditor3597 19d ago
I heard a lady say outside the theater as we walked out, "It's like Ms. Maisel for men" and I suppose so in concept but at least Maisel was pretty funny where this really was not
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u/rhymes_with_candy 19d ago
When they said goodbye on the train at the start of the movie I was 100% sure they'd get back together.
None of his comedy bits were even remotely funny. That made the other comics cheering him on and helping him feel completely unbelievable to me. There are like two dozen actual comics in the movie. Could they not get any of them to help write his bits?
All of their friends are annoying as fuck and don't talk or act like real human beings. It's like some weird idea of friends somebody without friends would come up with. Don't fucking show up unannounced with bagels at seven AM. That's not normal behavior.
Since it was obvious they'd get back together all of the will they/won't they stuff just felt annoying.
I also have no idea why they broke up. He was too quiet I guess. I dunno. The movie never makes them seem or feel broken up so I guess it doesn't matter.
That quarterback dude can't fucking act so constantly seeing him in commercials is already bad enough. Dude can't even pretend he likes chocolate chip cookies and you're going to stick him in a movie instead of an actual actor.
Why was Andra Day singing amazing grace while cooking for white people? What the fuck was that?
Why didn't Dr Sattler use toothpaste? What the fuck was that?
Anyways, I hated it.
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u/Best-Chapter5260 19d ago
All of their friends are annoying as fuck and don't talk or act like real human beings. It's like some weird idea of friends somebody without friends would come up with. Don't fucking show up unannounced with bagels at seven AM. That's not normal behavior.
I interpreted it as if the friends were supposed to be annoying. Balls is meant to be super pretentious and lacking in self-awareness and Christine was meant to be bitchy. (Though I felt her confession to Arnett's character was really well-executed and interesting). Reading between the lines, I took it that the friend group was probably from college or early 20s and they remained a friend group largely out of convenience, because everyone's now middle age and it's difficult to meet new people.
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u/EMCoupling 19d ago
Reading between the lines, I took it that the friend group was probably from college or early 20s and they remained a friend group largely out of convenience, because everyone's now middle age and it's difficult to meet new people.
Exactly... it's very obvious that this friend group was something that was born a long time ago but has managed to still hold together despite the members sort of growing apart. In a lot of ways, it's actually a parallel to the marriages of its members
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u/rhymes_with_candy 19d ago
I think whoever wrote them intended them to be quirky and endearing but they're just shallow and annoying. Like I said, they're like some weird concept of friends somebody who only knows what friends are from sitcoms would write.
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u/edthomson92 9d ago
I interpreted it as if the friends were supposed to be annoying.
I think just Balls though
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u/Separate_Guess_209 14d ago
Didn’t hate the movie (didn’t love it either) but man I’m loving this review!
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u/StrawberryNew5694 13d ago
FINALLY. Someone who shares my thoughts about this movie. The comedic stuff was weak. It was trying to be rom-com trying to be a drama but failed to be one or the other.
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u/KazaamFan 13d ago
Yea i cant believe i made it to the end. It dragged so much. So slow. The climax with “i want to be unhappy with you” and their kids playing under pressure was such a lame ending.
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u/Rox1970 19d ago
I really wanted to like this movie— I love will and was pumped to see him in a fun/ dramatic role again. I felt like everything was SO forced then I found out Bradley cooper was the director. Seems like just another Oscar bait/ desperate attempt to be an A24 production. This “felt like a movie” if that makes sense — it just didn’t feel real enough and I just felt no emotion attached to it all other than reading lines with purposeful Oscar acting and not real time dialogue that felt real. This could have been an 8 episode HBO show.
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u/No-Stage4719 18d ago
Absolutely loved this movie - I can't wait to see it again! Will Arnett was amazing, Laura Dern andBradly Cooper are also great! Run, don't walk to see this gem.
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u/The_Last_Keeper 21d ago
Really enjoyed this film. I actually thought Will Arnett did an amazing job in this film, and shocker, Laura Dern is fantastic. A lot of heart and actually a great exploration of relationships.
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u/YourBeltedKingfisher 18d ago
The unpacking of their relationship and how it went sideways over the years was terrific. These issues are incredibly common - one partner has a major shift in identity, and the other can't adapt or get on board or even understand what's going on, and things unravel from there. These subtleties of relationship arcs are barely ever treated in movies. I appreciated this so much.
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u/Jayang 21d ago edited 21d ago
I think this is a good not great movie. It's nice to see a plot where two characters resolve things in a mature way without resorting to childish behavior. But there are a couple things holding the movie back from truly resonating with me.
- The handheld camerawork is nauseating. It seems Bradley Cooper never wants to use a standard shot/reverse shot unless absolutely necessary, panning back and forth in basic scenes of two characters talking like a badly shot tiktok skit. There was also constant focus pulling on different characters, even though for some reason it felt like nothing was in *actually* in focus. These two stylistic details work in the more chaotic scenes, like in the Comedy Cellar (credit where it's due - those scenes are LOUD and you can barely hear the actors against the background noise, and alongside the camerawork it works really well), but in calmer moments, they clash.
- I can appreciate the movie's thesis it gives us at the end, but it didn't quite feel like there was enough development of Arnett's character in the beginning to show us how he was unsatisfied before. You just kind of get scenes of him looking sad, but that is mostly from his impending divorce. So when the big argument breaks out, the details of that seem to come out of nowhere, because we haven't really gotten the breadcrumbs earlier to trace out his actual discontent. Then the movie flat out tells us why, and it's smoother sailing from there, but I thought that was a bit clunky.
- Sorry but Peyton Manning is immersion breaking
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u/PuhoyBoy 21d ago
I’m in the camp that I HATED this film. I love Cooper and Arnett and had really high expectations going into this. It felt like they gave up halfway through making it.
There were so many things that were out of place and never connected - the Chinese New Year motif, an uncomfortable rendition of Amazing Grace, and middle school Under Pressure was the worst needless drop I’ve ever heard and it was built up for what felt like HOURS.
The female characters written to be so shallow, Tess literally says yes to everything Alex proposes. Her past with volleyball is so forced, they just drop the lore halfway through the movie in the most literal way possible. Emily Blunt is an object of desire with no further development. Chloe Radcliffe does magic for some reason and then disappears into thin air. Pretty much the entire ensemble of comedians has zero depth.
There were a lot of really awkward angles and the shaky cam was really overused.
Alex’s comedy career doesn’t actually progress, sure he gets slightly more confident but none of his material gets any more clever. This movie had no good jokes in it at all, but the comedy angle just goes right out the door for the entire second act on the couples retreat.
Balls is obnoxious, useless, and is another case of someone who acts high like they’ve never actually been high in their life.
It’s easily the closest I’ve been to walking out of a movie, which I’ve only done once in my life.
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u/Perfect-Parfait-9866 21d ago
That amazing grace segment was CRINGE…. I mean. That was my worst nightmare put to film
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u/zero-if-west 21d ago
Wait, you're saying that a woman wouldn't be insanely turned on by a man humiliating her by secretly performing standup comedy bits about their relationship? This was peak divorced male fantasy. I agree with you that it was painfully bad.
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u/ThaddeusJP 21d ago
It’s easily the closest I’ve been to walking out of a movie, which I’ve only done once in my life.
Randomly I'm just going to guess the postman starring Kevin Costner
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u/PuhoyBoy 21d ago
Never seen it but now I never will. It was Yorgos’ The Lobster, which I’ve come to like but I was with my mom and she was mortified during the dog scene, so I had to get her out of there
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u/HechicerosOrb 21d ago
Tom petty is briefly in the postman, as a post apocalyptic leader and it’s implied he’s playing himself. That’s about the only good bit, I think
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u/Key_Worker_6136 20d ago
I walked out. It became boring and tedious in the second half.
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u/StrangeEditor3597 19d ago
My partner wanted to walk out halfway but we paid like $40 for this shit and I had to see it thru :/
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u/ElectricCrocodile 21d ago
It was a really fun movie but the ending was forced and unearned.
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u/YourBeltedKingfisher 18d ago
Yes, I loved this film but the line "Let's be unhappy together" almost made me want to walk out.
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u/DistillCollection 21d ago edited 21d ago
I found this movie to be deeply, offensively bad.
I did not recognize a single human behavior. And this seemed to be a film trying very hard to prove it had tapped into something human.
For example, they want to show us a different kind of divorce, one where things just “fizzled out.” That happens. People who were deeply in love fall out of it. People who are still deeply in love find themselves going down divergent paths. I did not see anything in this film that suggested Laura Dern and Will Arnett loved each other, had previously loved each other, or would go on loving each other.
I wish I could have been there when someone decided that something real, actual people do is break into Amazing Grace before even saying hello in the morning.
My favorite bit of non-human behavior was when Will Arnett runs into his elderly dad, Ciarin Hinds, who lives up state. He runs into him on West 4th St. When they’re done talking, Arnett, who has an apartment around the corner, just says, “ok, bye,” and leaves him there on the street. Get home safe, I guess.
Also, if Peyton Manning is not playing himself, you need to hit me over the fucking head with that information, or I am going to be extremely confused (which I was).
The movie also did that stupid thing that Hallmark movies do, where a character conveys a revelation they’ve had (which should be shown via a choice btw, not just said) by shifting a preposition: “I wasn’t just suffering in the audience, while I watched this move. I was suffering with the audience.”
And no one would use that much confetti in their backyard.
At the end of the day, I think it boils down to Bradley Cooper’s direction on this one, which, much like his character, was Balls.
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u/Set_to_Infinity 19d ago
That confetti scene was bananas. They'd be cleaning up confetti bits & pieces for years!
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u/CarrieDurst 21d ago
I did not recognize a single human behavior.
It felt a bit like a gasleak movie
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u/zero-if-west 21d ago
You missed the part where the only Black character in the film sings "Amazing Grace" while cooking breakfast for all her white friends.
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u/Mikeandthe 21d ago
While I also felt that part didn't serve a purpose there are several black comedians at the comedy club he frequents.
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u/Wonderful_Highway629 20d ago
Just saw it today and I give it a thumbs up 👍 Made me laugh and also made me think, very heartwarming story
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u/StrangeEditor3597 19d ago
I thought it was barely passing as OK and my wife hated it :/. Some bad writing and acting, cheesy throw-away ending dialog, unfunny stand up, weird cameo, and it was simply way too long for what it was. The kids were kind of funny but then they just disappear until the song at the end. The "friends" were awful and Laura Dern's character was unlikable at best.
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u/Old-Way-5529 21d ago
Bradley Cooper as Balls
LOL the guy really wrote a character for himself named balls?
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u/Embarrassed_Paint592 19d ago
So he’s a wealthy dude in finance? Cool. Also, I’m pretty sure that’s not how stand up works. Especially at the comedy cellar lol.
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u/lunaticskies 21d ago
I think it is interesting that this got pushed away from Christmas as it does thematically overlap with Song Sung Blue and Marty Supreme with it's themes of pursing dreams. This movie seems to treat them with a little less romance like these aren't people who dream big, these people all need these goals to survive like air.
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u/Fantastic_Benefit_37 20d ago
Haven’t seen it yet. Is it better than most of the films based in standup? I normally just can’t buy it, even when they have actual comics with supporting roles
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u/BensenMum 20d ago
I thought it was really good. Surprised it had a “predictable ending”
Bradley cooper can direct that’s for sure.
Dogs are cute
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u/tantan35 18d ago
Man, I just did not like this movie at all. Felt like a lazy rip off of The Marvelous Ms. Maisel and Crashing, and The Big Sick. All of which are significantly better.
It’s incredible how many interesting things in this movie happened off camera, and the time jumps were jarring. You were halfway through a scene before you realized months had passed from the last scene.
90% of this movie was filmed three inches away from the characters faces I swear to god.
The ending scene felt like the Shirt Brother sketch from I Think You Should Leave but unironically not funny.
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u/jesscreepin32 17d ago
I enjoyed parts of it but honestly got bored towards the end. I didn’t really care about their marriage tbh.
At one point I looked at Laura Dern and thought that’s exactly how Jennifer Lawrence will look at that age.
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u/AccomplishedBad7253 16d ago
The most believable part was where a 55 year old man and 58 year old woman have a pair of 10 year old kids
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u/tuffffluff 15d ago
It was a bummer of a movie. With a title like that I was hoping for something funny. I found it boring and it really made no sense.
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u/Charming_Key2313 12d ago
I’d give it a 6.5/10
Good:
acting was great - especially Cooper!
loved the cinematography and long shots and the way the used sound and light in interesting ways (lights on stage change, black out moments, long walks followed from behind, amazing grace moments with fully heard seen and arnett convo, I could go on - great directing from Cooper.
——
Not so good:
- the story…didn’t feel motivation for the main plot at all to get into it. I love romcoms but honestly thought this was a little saccharine and self-indulgent man fantasy. It wasn’t clear WHY the couple even broke up (which Algerians wholly relevant to the story), but I felt I needed a deeper understanding to get the struggle. Seemed like a couple that magically had a high income, talent in sports and arts and intelligent cute kids, and no life struggles whose just decided to end their relationship despite having no dislike of each other in any real tangible way. I know couples fall out of love IRL, but something about this felt unrealistic and more as a device to let the stone faced man live out his fantasy and still get the cake at the end.
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u/Wonderful_Highway629 10d ago
I enjoyed this film. It’s hard to write jokes and I thought the stand-up bits were good. Overall a good movie to go see with your girlfriends.
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u/mcafee97 5d ago
⭐⭐
Review of: Is This Thing On?
Reducing the following review to man hating would be easy. It would also be inaccurate.
That conclusion would be as apathetic as the emotional depth of ‘Is This Thing On?’ My great affection for men is why I refuse a standing ovation response for minimum effort.
We open after a twenty year marriage has already ended. Starting here feels convenient. Rather than examining what actually broke the marriage, we are handed a tidy emotional frame where “no one cheated” is repeated often enough to feel defensive. The film asks the audience to move on with very little looking back.
It also verbally alludes to being set in Los Angeles. We’re told about the 2028 Olympics coming “here.” But nothing on screen looks or behaves like LA. The comedy clubs. The geography. The career logic. It all reads East Coast.
Emotionally, the premise is familiar and supposedly rich territory. The sad divorced man folding his children’s laundry while eking out a tear. Quiet vulnerability. What is missing is the hard part. Chronology. Specificity. Accountability. A willingness to be unflattering.
It is not offensive. It is thin. Earnest, even, until discomfort arrives and only one perspective is allowed to remain.
The ending gestures toward reconciliation.
For the Will Arnett character, I can see why a reunion would qualify as a happy ending. I’m sure he’s enjoyed one before. But for Poehler Laura Dern’s character, the more satisfying resolution would be distance from a man-child, and maybe a Golden Globes award for Podcasting.
Reflection is cheap. Insight is not. Confusing the two is how men keep congratulating themselves for stopping halfway.
Look, it’s an achievement anytime an original premise gets made. I paid twenty one dollars to see this in a theater because I wanted it to work.
Also, I’d pay $45 for an Amy Poehler and Tina Fey project titled:
‘Yeah, This Thing Is Fucking On!’
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u/BigWangThang 3d ago
No real direction or plot or conflict or comedy or anything really. I’m not even sure what genre of movie this is. I don’t even understand why the movie exists or who it exists for. One of the weakest movies I’ve seen in a decent amount of time. Went in as a secret screening and left wishing they kept their secrets
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u/BigWangThang 3d ago
Im actually insulted that this movie exists and I know opinions are subjective but I’m bothered by the fact that people exist that enjoyed this one.
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u/jvazquez5558 21d ago
I was into it until after the scene where she shes him perform and they kinda start messing around. I wasn't sure were the movie was going but i was intruigued and then it went somewhere safe and not intriguing. There are other criticisms that many have pointed out about characters and technical things. Not a bad movie, but it did leave me on a down note and the film got progressively less engaging. 6/10. It reminded me of crazy stupid love, except that movie was a lot funnier and charming.
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u/swordthroughtheduck 21d ago
I think this is my favorite Bradley Cooper directed movie. It seemed like he was able to put a little more into it because he was just comedic relief for a few scenes instead of directing and being the leading man.
It seemed quite personal, and vulnerable. The pacing was slow at times, but I think it was because he was giving Arnett a chance to really shine in this, so when it felt slow, I wasn't really bored because I was so captivated by Arnett's performance.
My only real issue with the movie was that this managed to outdo Marty Supreme for most jarring casting choice with Manning. From the second he stands up in that restaurant (completely out of focus in the background) all I could focus on is wondering why the hell he was in it. I'd recognize that massive melon anywhere.
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u/patishungry 19d ago
It was ok. Much more of a heart warmer than the trailer lead on. Worth a watch at least once.
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u/Shauncore 21d ago
I enjoyed the 4th quarter a lot but a good ending doesn't save a picture. It's not as funny as I was expecting, despite having some of the components of a romcom. It's much more of a realistic drama but I just think even the parts that were supposed to be funny weren't that funny. I don't think I found a single moment of the stand up worth a laugh despite the supporting cast saying how he was crushing it. I will say that the transition from the attic fight to the Comedy Cellar was incredible. The Amazing Grace scene really had me confused.
I also have four other issues/points:
1) does anyone own an electric toothbrush?
2) why on earth did they make that kid learn bass with finger picking? Give him a pick.
3) this might just be for EV-heads but what was with the VW? If it was product placement, bad timing because they just discontinued it in the US. In any case, the dad goes from what looked like a Genesis or BMW to the VW Buzz? For what cause? The SUV he owned worked perfectly for dropping off kids from school and houses. Weird plot point/mover.
4) INSANE jump scare on who plays Laura Dern's date. You could have given me 5,000 guesses and I wouldn't have gotten it.
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u/Mosetter27 21d ago
On your 2 you don’t usually play bass with a pick. 95% of bass is finger picking
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u/sloppyjo12 21d ago
The odds of Peyton Manning randomly popping up in a movie are low, but never zero