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Matthew Schuchman : In the early 90s, while at the video store with his friends who wanted to rent Don’t Tell Mom The Babysitter’s Dead, Matthew asked the clerk if they had any copies of Naked Lunch available. A film buff from an early age, he would turn his fascination into his own review site in 2010; Movie Review from Gene Shalit’s Moustache. From there, he provided his voice to such publications as Den of Geek, Coming Soon, and Verbicide magazine as a film reviewer and talent interviewer.
©Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures
Is This Thing On? : Bradley Cooper made a splash when he moved behind the camera to make his version of A Star is Born. And while it is highly loved by so many, his next directorial feature, Maestro, was highly under appreciated. Both A Star is Born and Maestro are very different films presented in totally unique ways. For his third outing in the director’s chair, Cooper is not done switching gears.
Based on the life of British comedian John Bishop, Is This Thing On? follows Alex and Tess Novak (Will Arnett and Laura Dern) as their marriage begins to dissolve. While figuring his life out, Alex turns to open mic comedy, not to tell jokes, but to get free entry into a bar with a cover charge. As his actual enjoyment of trying to be a comedian grows, his ex-wife happens to show up for the jokes one night, not realizing Alex has this, “second life.”
What follows is a journey into a relationship archytype that is rarely seen on screen. Is This Thing On? is not your typical break-up film, and it flourishes in its own little slice of life corner that needs to be seen.
Directed by : Bradley Cooper
Screenplay by : Bradley Cooper, Will Arnett, Mark Chappell
Starring : Will Arnett, Laura Dern, Andra Day, Bradley Cooper
Release Dates : October 10, 2025 (NYFF), December 19, 2025 (US)
Running Time : 121 minutes
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Here’s the trailer of the film.