'Is This Thing On?' Trailer: Bradley Cooper Finds Truth, Comedy, and Heartbreak With Will Arnett & Laura Dern
If you've ever felt a life you built start to slip, this trailer is going to sting a little - in a good way. Searchlight just rolled out a first look at Bradley Cooper (movies and tv series)'s new dramedy, and it feels close to the bone: warm, funny, a little raw.
The film is called Is This Thing On?, Cooper's third time in the director's chair. Will Arnett (movies and tv series) and Laura Dern (movies and tv series) play a couple trying to be decent to each other while the version of their marriage that once worked… doesn't anymore.
What the story's really about
Arnett's Alex is a middle-aged New Yorker staring down divorce, a career that stalled, and the realization that his old instincts won't cut it. So he starts doing stand-up - not to hide, but to tell the truth out loud and see if it still holds.
Dern's Tess is done pretending her sacrifices didn't cost her anything. She wants her time back, her name back, her life back. Together, they try to figure out a simple, brutal question: what does love look like after the first version collapses?
Cooper put it plainly in an interview: this isn't a midlife crisis story - "it's a midlife catharsis." He told Vanity Fair that framing, and you can feel it in the trailer's mix of small, awkward laughs and quiet gut punches.
New York is a character here
Subway platforms. Cramped bars. The kind of late-night rooms where jokes land hard because they sound a little too true. "NYC injects an energy into every aspect of filmmaking that just can't be replicated," Cooper says - and the footage backs him up.
Cast, credits, and the inspiration
- Leads: Will Arnett (Alex), Laura Dern (Tess), with Bradley Cooper appearing onscreen
- Ensemble: Andra Day (movies and tv series), Amy Sedaris (movies and tv series), Sean Hayes (movies and tv series), Christine Ebersole (movies and tv series), Ciarán Hinds (movies and tv series), Scott Icenogle (movies and tv series), and British comedian John Bishop (movies and tv series) - whose own story helped inspire the film
- Writers: Bradley Cooper, Will Arnett, Mark Chappell
- Producers: Bradley Cooper, Will Arnett, Weston Middleton, Kris Thykier
Key dates and what they signal
Is This Thing On? will have its world premiere October 10 as the closing-night selection of the New York Film Festival - a smart spot that tends to generate word-of-mouth. Details on the lineup live at the festival's home, Film at Lincoln Center (NYFF).
The movie opens December 19 via Searchlight Pictures. That's prime awards-season timing, which tells you how the studio sees this: intimate, actor-driven, and likely a conversation starter for end-of-year lists.
Why this one might land
Cooper's coming off A Star Is Born and Maestro, but this feels smaller by design - closer to the kind of life mess most of us recognize. Stand-up as confession. Co-parenting without a map. Two people trying to fix themselves without breaking each other worse. It's tender. And honestly, kind of hopeful.
Video: The official trailer is available below and will appear here automatically.
Here's what this could mean: if the film sticks the landing it teases - honest laughs, earned heartbreak - expect strong acting buzz for Arnett and Dern, and plenty of talk about Cooper's knack for stories that feel lived-in.
