The more I see of Bradley Cooper’s directing efforts, the more I see a distressing resemblance to David O. Russell. Which is understandable, as Russell and Cooper made a number of Oscar-nominated films together. Trouble is, Russell lost his head up his own ass ages ago. He makes big splashy Oscar contenders that vanish from cultural memory as soon as the awards season ends, so we kept on repeating the cycle of giving Russell second chances until he finally and inevitably went too far with Amsterdam.

So here we are with Is This Thing On?, in which director/co-writer/producer/supporting actor Cooper presents another awards-bait character drama after A Star is Born (2018) and Maestro both came and went. That said, I’d be remiss not to mention Will Arnett, here a co-writer and producer. And unfortunately, what we’ve got is another film that’s only just good and interesting enough to take it through February.

(Side note: The film is supposedly “inspired by a true story”, namely that of British comedian John Bishop. The film is such a heavily fictionalized account that it’s barely worth mentioning.)

Arnett plays Alex Novak, a man stuck in abject and inexplicable melancholy. We open as Alex and his wife (Tess, played by Laura Dern) call it quits on their marriage — not for any immediately obvious reason, they both simply come to the mutual conclusion that it’s time to move on. Though of course that mutual decision doesn’t make the separation any easier for them or their kids (played by Blake Kane and Calvin Knegten).

One thing leads to another and Alex stumbles his way into an open mic night. In a half-assed attempt at stand-up comedy, Alex gets onstage and vents about his collapsing marriage… and it doesn’t suck. Indeed, Alex discovers a catharsis in processing his issues in a way that makes other people laugh, and he meets a whole new social group in the process.

Yes, we’ve got a movie in which the main character gets divorced before working as a comedian. That’s a new one.

I hasten to add that Alex has some vague “finance” job for his 9-to-5. And now that Tess doesn’t have her husband’s money to lean on for much longer, she’s going back to her old career: She used to be an Olympic athlete. Yeah, she played volleyball for the USA Olympic team before she retired to be a housewife.

But now that her husband is leaving, Tess wants to get back into the game as a high-level coach. At the same time, working as a stand-up comic means that Alex is noticeably more perceptive and honest in all aspects of his everyday life. Alex and Tess are each making themselves more attractive, in the potential interest of dating and finding romantic/sexual happiness again. Each of them is stepping up as a parent, working harder to provide for their boys now that they have to do so individually.

Simply put, what we’ve got here is a situation in which Alex and Tess each grow into more confident and capable people after they split up. This leads to the awkward question of whether it would be possible or advisable to get back together. Have they grown into a more worthy match for each other, or are they that much better off apart?

The film has a lot to say about aging, family, and the messy nature of relationships. And it works so well because Arnett and Dern have the chemistry to power such a wide variety of scenes between two people going through a massively complicated phase in their (crumbling) marriage. I need hardly add that because Arnett is such a seasoned comedian — and because so many of Alex’s industry friends are played by actual stand-up comics like Chloe Radcliffe, Jordan Jensen, and Amy fucking Sedaris — the stand-up comedy scenes are all great fun from start to finish.

It’s the rest of the movie that’s the problem.

For one thing, the film is massively overpopulated with quirky support characters. Alex’s parents are played by Ciaran Hinds and Christine Ebersole — the joke is that Alex’s mom keeps siding with Tess on all matters pertaining to the divorce while his father does his best to stay out of everything by playing dumb.

More importantly, we have the best friend characters. Andra Day plays Christine, Tess’ best friend, far too nosy and judgemental for anyone’s own good. Worse yet is Bradley Cooper’s character, Christine’s husband and Alex’s best friend. His name is Balls. Yes, seriously and literally, the character’s name is Balls. He’s a failed actor and a stoner, calling himself an artist as a transparent and frankly insulting excuse for why he’s such a worthless goddamn loser.

Christine, Balls, and Alex’s parents are all clearly supposed to be there to provide alternate viewpoints on the topics of marriage and divorce. Furthermore, I can understand the logic of throwing in so many comic relief characters so the film stays funny outside the stand-up scenes. Trouble is, none of these characters are anywhere near as funny, authentic, or heartfelt as anything that Alex and his peers say into a microphone. Moreover, Tess and Alex go through so much together and apart that none of the other characters have much of anything else to contribute on the subject.

I might further add that while the stand-up scenes do so much to develop Alex’s character and make the film worth watching, the movie doesn’t go nearly far enough with the concept. Consider that it takes a uniquely fucked-up person to air out their personal drama on a stage so that they can laugh at themselves and a crowd full of total strangers can join in the laughter. In Alex’s case, pretty much all of his comedic material revolves around his marital problems. Sooner or later, his divorce will get finalized or he’ll get back together with his wife, and then what will he talk about? For that matter, when such deeply personal and private matters are made into punchlines onstage — without the knowledge or consent of anyone else involved — how long until someone gets hurt?

All of these legit questions are only barely hinted at, and then dropped just as quickly. I mean, I can respect a film for taking the less obvious route, as there are some genuinely interesting questions and ideas over there. But it doesn’t take away from the sense of wasted potential.

Perhaps worst of all, there are so many little artistic touches that feel worthless to the point of pretentious. I specifically refer to Chinese New Year and a Chinese lion dance puppet, both of which are recurring motifs. There’s also an extended a capella song break of “Amazing Grace” that happens out of nowhere. Why? What is it supposed to mean? Hell if I know.

Looking back on it, I have to wonder if Is This Thing On? would’ve been better if Arnett and Cooper had switched roles. I would’ve been genuinely interested to see how Cooper would’ve played the Alex role, and the notion of Will Arnett directing a movie like this is fascinating. Also, Arnett could’ve done a vastly better job playing Balls, let’s be real.

As it is, I get the strong impression that Cooper isn’t directing movies because he’s got something to say, but because he’s trying to prove himself. All three of his movies so far feel like the product of someone who desperately wants to prove that he can be more than just a pretty face on the screen. Bradley, with all due respect, that’s what you’re best at. And you do it better than most.

Ultimately, Will Arnett comes out looking like the far more versatile talent. It’s worth watching for him and Laura Dern, but I can’t recommend it for more than that. Probably just as well that this movie is getting crowded out by Marty Supreme. For that matter, it seems like all the awards contenders right now are getting crowded out by Marty Supreme, how the hell did that happen?