City Weekly · Film
Film review: IS THIS THING ON? Plus January special screenings
David Lynch retrospective, Rob Reiner retrospective, Trent Harris night and more.
Is This Thing On? Cinematic stories of disintegrating marriages are fairly commonplace—and often depressing emotional endurance tests, besides—so it’s interesting to see co-writer/director Bradley Cooper take this variation on the theme in a fresher direction.
The unhappy couple in this place is Alex and Tess Novak (Will Arnett and Laura Dern), who decide matter-of-factly to separate. Then Alex impulsively decides to get up on stage at an open-mic comedy night, and starts turning their relationship issues into material.
The premise would seem to suggest an uneven balance towards Alex’s…
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