Will Arnett and Laura Dern in 'Is This Thing On?' Jason McDonald/Searchlight Pictures Share on Facebook Share on X Share to Flipboard Send an Email Show additional share options Share on LinkedIn Share on Pinterest Share on Reddit Share on Tumblr Share on Whats App Print the Article Post a Comment After a quarter century as a working actor, it's hardly surprising that Bradley Cooper would be drawn for subject matter to the cathartic nature of performing and its effect on relationships. What's less expected is that all three of his highly accomplished films as director have used that spark in such different ways. A Star Is Born explored the arc of a couple respectively experiencing the glow of the spotlight and the chill as it dims, while Maestro weighed the creative genius of an impassioned artist against the limited oxygen left for a uniquely complex love story. In Cooper's tenderly observed third feature, Is This Thing On?, performance is a rebound reflex, a therapeutic means of working through the end of a marriage and stumbling onto the self-discovery necessary to process what went wrong - inadvertently realizing that the foundations on which it was built remain intact. It's an unassuming comic drama that sneaks up on you, its emotional honesty fueled by gorgeous performances of unimpeachable naturalness from Will Arnett and Laura Dern. Related Stories Movies 'Stiller & Meara: Nothing Is Lost' Review: Ben Stiller Reflects on His Parents' Stardom, Their Marriage and His Own Career in a Touching Documentary Movies George Clooney Says 'Jay Kelly' Made Him "Thrilled That in Real Life I Hadn't Lived a Life of Regret" Is This Thing On? The Bottom Line Soulful, funny and affecting. Venue: New York Film Festival (Closing Night, Main Slate)Release date: Friday, Dec. 19Cast: Will Arnett, Laura Dern, Andra Day, Bradley Cooper, Christine Ebersole, Ciarán Hinds, Sean Hayes, Amy SedarisDirector: Bradley CooperScreenwriters: Bradley Cooper, Will Arnett, Mark Chappell Rated R, 2 hours Inspired by British footballer-turned-comedian John Bishop's personal story and written by Cooper and Arnett with Mark Chappell, the movie drops the bombshell of marital breakdown with a disarming absence of melodrama. "I think we need to call it, right?" says Dern's Tess Novak, while cleaning her teeth before bed. "I think so too," concurs Arnett's Alex. Refreshingly, it's a mutual decision that appears not to be pickled in bitterness but grounded in maturity and mutual respect. Peeling away any superfluous connective tissue along with the preamble, the script picks up on Alex and Tess having an amicable get-together with their friends in Manhattan - long-married couple Christine (Andra Day) and Balls (Cooper) and gay newlyweds Stephen (Sean Hayes) and Geoffrey (Hayes' real-life husband Scott Icenogle). Only later when they sit on a Grand Central platform sharing a hash cookie and Alex absent-mindedly gets up to board the Metro-North train with Tess does it become clear that the couple is already living apart. Slightly stoned and clearly in no rush to go home alone, Alex wanders into the Olive Tree Café in the West Village. To avoid paying the $15 cover charge, he puts his name down on the sign-up sheet for open mic night at the Comedy Cellar downstairs. After an uncertain start, he begins riffing with candor and self-deprecation about his divorce after 26 years with his ex, revealing that he's living alone in a city apartment. Seemingly to his own surprise as much as anyone's, his impromptu material gets laughs. Skipping over the usual "breaking-the-news" scenes regarding Tess and Alex's separation, the film focuses more on their adjustment and that of the people closest to them. The chief moments of revelation are those pertaining to Alex's burgeoning stand-up career as he gains confidence and begins to feel a camaraderie with fellow performers - many of them played by New York comedy scene fixtures, adding immeasurably to the film's fond sense of place. The most poignant moment takes place in Alex's car as he's driving his 10-year-old sons (Blake Kane and Calvin Knegton) - not twins, but "Irish twins," as he describes them on stage - back home after an overnight stay at his apartment. Disconcerted to find themselves and their mother serving as joke material in the notebook they discover beside their dad's bed, the boys are confused, one of them particularly upset. It's a forgivable movie-ish contrivance to have Tess on a quasi-date (with Peyton Manning in an amusing appearance) wander into the Comedy Cellar by chance and catch Alex's act, just as he's sharing the unaccustomed sensations of sex with another woman for the first time in decades. He also confesses that it made him miss his ex-wife more, wondering what that's about. Arnett and Dern so fully inhabit their characters that nothing about that awkward encounter feels false. Instead, it uncovers mutual affection and attraction that have been dormant rather than dead, in a funny,