As an actor, Bradley Cooper can be exciting and explosive because he refuses to take himself all that seriously. In critically heralded films like Silver Linings Playbook, American Hustle, even Guardians of the Galaxy, where he voiced Rocket Raccoon, he gamely plays the fool, egotistical, wrathful, and/or uncouth. Yet as a filmmaker, Cooper is tediously serious, even when making the divorce-centered comedy Is This Thing On?
Curiously, Cooper doesn’t star in his latest, as he did in past directorial efforts A Star is Born (2018), and Maestro. Instead, he cast himself as the silliest character in his latest directorial effort, while Will Arnett, who co-wrote the screenplay with Cooper and Mark Chappell (See How They Run), headlines alongside Laura Dern.
Together, they play a middle-aged couple who are navigating the end of their 20-year marriage. But don’t expect the fireworks of the troubled couples from his last two directorial efforts. Instead, these two have a mutual split that’s more aching than angry. To cope, the soon-to-be ex-husband turns his pain into a new hobby: stand-up comedy. Yet the results aren’t all that funny or profound.
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