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Is This Thing On?

Play trailer 2:23 Poster for Is This Thing On? R Now Playing 2h 4m Comedy Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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86% Tomatometer 187 Reviews 83% Popcornmeter 500+ Verified Ratings
As their marriage quietly unravels, Alex (Will Arnett) faces middle age and an impending divorce, seeking new purpose in the New York comedy scene while Tess (Laura Dern) confronts the sacrifices she made for their family--forcing them to navigate co-parenting, identity, and whether love can take a new form.
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Is This Thing On?

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Critics Consensus

Mining sly humor from its mature portrait of a failing marriage, Is This Thing On? is another terrific relationship study from Bradley Cooper and an ideal platform for Will Arnett's dramatic chops.

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Audience Says

A thought-provoking character study that buzzes with authenticity, Is This Thing On?” is firmly plugged into the Gen-X ethos.

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Critics Reviews

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Nikki Gemmell The Australian 1d
4/5
A playful, nervy title, just like this movie. Its perceptive wisdom will stay with me. Go to Full Review Sandra Hall Sydney Morning Herald 1d
3/5
There’s very little spark between Dern and Arnett, and while it’s clear that this group of old friends enjoyed putting the film together, they fail to bring us in on the fun. Go to Full Review John Nugent Empire Magazine 3d
4/5
Essentially “Men will literally do stand-up rather than go to therapy”, in cinematic form. An appealing tragicomedy-drama, told with veracity and heart by Cooper, Arnett and Dern. Go to Full Review Leigh Paatsch Daily Telegraph (Australia) 2h
3.5/5
As directed by actor Bradley Cooper, Is Thing On? benefits big-time from training its focus on how its two lead characters will move forward from their fateful decision. Go to Full Review Jim Schembri jimschembri.com 12h
1.5/5
Unfortunately, Bradley Cooper’s much-ballyhooed movie goes belly-up pretty quickly once you realise it’s in no particular hurry to get to anywhere particularly interesting. Go to Full Review Simon Foster Screen-Space (Substack) 16h
3.5/5
Director Cooper...does good work here, capturing a ground-level naturalism and authenticity in his characters and setting that proves insightful and winning. Go to Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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JRD 3d Fun, funny, thought provoking. See more Tamara 4d Wil Arnett at the top of his game! Heartfelt, touching and funny. Is This Thing On? Go see it! See more Johnny G @Gilamonstero Jan 29 It is a good story and well acted until Bradley Cooper enters any scene. He just drags the movie down and interrupts the flow of what could have been a great movie. I was so looking forward to this as I love standup comedy and that part worked. My date and I had taken a gummy prior to the showing and it definitely helped. In one scene Lara Dern has the line, "I am not a downer. I am not a downer." Then a long pause which I laughed at because at that moment in the movie I was thinking "yeah but this movie sure is." It is worth a watch but I would not see it again. A good editor would have cut all of Cooper’s scenes out of the movie. They felt self serving and distracting to the audience and the flow of the story. See more Sally Jan 24 It was mediocre, did touch on real life divorce stories, but this one had a happy ending. See more Ricky S Jan 23 Overall a great movie, have some nitpicks I don’t feel like typing out and ofc it didn’t ruin the movie for me and it went by surprisingly fast for a 2 hour movie See more Krystal Jan 23 This movie, in my opinion, is a sleeper. I would recommend sleeping in on this movie. Get some comfortable sitting, like a nice reclined seat, eat your popcorn first and then go and take a nice nap and wake up maybe from time to time to see when its over. I definitely do not recommend spending your money on this one. See more Read all reviews
Is This Thing On?

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Cast & Crew

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Bradley Cooper

Director

Will Arnett

Alex Novak

Laura Dern

Tess Novak

Andra Day

Actor

Bradley Cooper

Actor

Amy Sedaris

Actor

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Is This Thing On?

Is This Thing On?: Movie Clip - In Love With Stand-Up Is This Thing On?: Movie Clip - In Love With Stand-Up 0:53 View more videos

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Awards Leaderboard: Best Movies of 2025 Will Arnett on Stand-Up Comedy, Is This Thing On?, and Career Reflections
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Is This Thing On?

Will Arnett on Stand-Up Comedy, ‘Is This Thing On?,’ and Career Reflections Will Arnett on Stand-Up Comedy, ‘Is This Thing On?,’ and Career Reflections 18:43 Is This Thing On?: Exclusive Featurette - Behind the Mic Is This Thing On?: Exclusive Featurette - Behind the Mic 3:09 Is This Thing On?: Trailer 1 Is This Thing On?: Trailer 1 2:23 Is This Thing On?: Teaser Trailer Is This Thing On?: Teaser Trailer 2:13 View more videos
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Is This Thing On?

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Movie Info

Synopsis As their marriage quietly unravels, Alex (Will Arnett) faces middle age and an impending divorce, seeking new purpose in the New York comedy scene while Tess (Laura Dern) confronts the sacrifices she made for their family--forcing them to navigate co-parenting, identity, and whether love can take a new form.
Director
Bradley Cooper
Producer
Bradley Cooper, Weston Middleton, Will Arnett, Kris Thykier
Screenwriter
Will Arnett, Mark Chappell, Bradley Cooper
Distributor
Searchlight Pictures
Production Co
Archery Pictures, Lea Pictures
Rating
R (Language Throughout|Some Drug Use|Sexual References)
Genre
Comedy, Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Jan 9, 2026, Wide
Box Office (Gross USA)
$44.1K
Runtime
2h 4m
Sound Mix
Dolby Digital
Aspect Ratio
Flat (1.66:1)
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