Will Arnett Archives – CULTURE MIX

Review: ‘Is This Thing On?,’ starring Will Arnett, Laura Dern, Andra Day and Bradley Cooper

October 10, 2025

by Carla Hay

Will Arnett and Laura Dern in “Is This Thing On?” (Photo by Jason McDonald/Searchlight Pictures)

Directed by Bradley Cooper

Culture Representation: Taking place in New York City, the comedy/drama film “Is This Thing On?” features a predominantly white cast of characters (with some African Americans, Latin people and Asians) representing the working-class and middle-class.

Culture Clash: A father, who’s separated from his wife, finds an emotional outlet in stand-up comedy, while he and his estranged wife decide if they get back together or get divorced.

Culture Audience: “Is This Thing On?” will appeal primarily to people who are fans of the movie’s headliners, filmmaker Bradley Cooper, and bittersweet movies about marriage and personal transformations.

Bradley Cooper and Will Arnett in “Is This Thing On?” (Photo by Jason McDonald/Searchlight Pictures)

The comedy/drama “Is This Thing On?” is less about becoming a stand-up comedian and more about whether or not a separated married couple will get back together. The movie’s talented performances mostly overcome the story’s shaggy and uneven tone. At times, “Is This Thing On?” looks like it can’t decide whether it wants to be an acerbic adult drama or a sentimental family comedy. It doesn’t completely succeed at either, but it has enough moments where its shines to keep most viewers interested or curious to see what will happen next.

Directed by Bradley Cooper, “Is This Thing On?” was co-written by Cooper, Will Arnett and Mark Chappell. Cooper and Arnett are two of the producers of the film. “Is This Thing On?” is the third movie that Cooper has directed, following the 2018 remake of “A Star Is Born” and the 2023 Leonard Bernstein biopic “Maestro.” “Is This Thing On?” (which had its world premiere at the 2025 New York Film Festival) doesn’t have a celebrity as the protagonist. Instead, the central character is a “regular guy” named Alex Novak (played by Arnett), who lives in New York City and is having a mid-life crisis that leads to a personal crossroads. (“Is This Thing On?” was filmed on location in New York City.)

In the beginning of the movie, Alex is shown looking bored and unhappy at an event where Chinese dragon dancers are performing at the school where his two sons (about 10 and 11 yeas old) are students. Older son Blake (played by Blake Kane) is intellectual and somewhat neurotic. Younger son Calvin (played by Calvin Knegten) is fun-loving and more adventurous than Blake. There’s a reason for Alex’s discontent: He and his wife Tess (played by Laura Dern) have separated after being married for 20 years and knowing each other for 26 years.

Alex’s job isn’t specifically stated in the movie (he makes a brief and vague mention that he works “in finance”), and he’s not seen at the office where he works. Tess is a homemaker who used to be an Olympic volleyball player in her 20s. She’s been a homemaker for an unnamed period of time—definitely since her children were born. After separating from Alex, Tess starts seeking out job opportunities to become a volleyball coach to Olympic hopefuls. Peyton Manning has a fairly small supporting role as Laird, a colleague from Tess’ past, who meets with her about a possible job as a volleyball coach.

Alex and Tess didn’t break up because of infidelity, addiction, abuse or financial problems. Their marriage crumbled because Alex and Tess are bored and frustrated with each other and their lives. The movie doesn’t have flashbacks to give any insight into what led up to their decision to separate. However, they are the type of estranged spouses who don’t get into vicious screaming arguments. They try to keep their verbal disagreements as civil as possible.

One night, Alex goes to a comedy club, but he doesn’t have the cash for the $15 admission fee. (It’s a weird contrivance for the movie. Doesn’t Alex have any debit cards or credit cards to pay the admission fee?) When he finds out that it’s open mic night at the club, and anyone who signs up to perform that night will get in the club for free, Alex impulsively decides to perform so he doesn’t have to pay the cover charge.

Alex’s first stand-up set is improvised and somewhat awkward. But he loves the freedom that stand-up comedy gives him to joke about his personal problems and other things in his life. Alex is hooked. He gets to know some of the people who consistently perform at the local comedy clubs. And he begins to consider doing stand-up comedy as a professional career.

Many scenes in “Is This Thing On?” were filmed on location at the Comedy Cellar in New York City with real paying audiences, not people who hired to act as audience members. Comedy Cellar manager Liz Furiati portrays herself in the movie. Amy Sedaris has a small role as the Comedy Cellar’s open mic emcee named Kemp.

Alex discovering stand-up comedy and becoming part of a stand-up comedy community could have been a very intriguing central concept for the movie. However, the majority of “Is This Thing On?” is about Alex and Tess going back and forth about whether or not they want to divorce or save their marriage. The stand-up comedy aspirations take a back seat to this spousal quandary.

The acting performances are credible, but the movie’s story is at times unfocused. Alex’s entrée into the New York comedy scene seems like a detour to the main story about his marital dilemma, when the stand-up comedy storyline and the marital storyline could have existed as parallel routes in a better screenplay. The teaser trailer for “Is This Thing On?” is somewhat misleading because it makes it look like the stand-up comedy storyline is the main story of the film. This “bait and switch” might or might not disappoint some viewers.

Supporting characters in the movie are a bit underdeveloped. Alex’s parents Marilyn (played by Christine Ebersole) and Jan (played by Ciarán Hinds) adore Alex and his family, but that’s all the movie shows about these two grandparents. Marilyn really likes Tess and gets along well with her, so Marilyn is naturally upset that Tess and Alex have split up. Marilyn tells Alex that she still wants to be a friend to Tess.

Alex and Tess, even after they’re separated, still hang out together with two longtime friends: an unhappily married stoner couple named Balls (played by Cooper) and Christine (played by Andra Day), who are the most annoying characters in the movie. Balls (a struggling actor who tends to get small roles in TV and in theater) and Christine (who appears to be a homemaker) are competitive with Alex and Tess. Christine and Balls have a 17-year-old son, who is heading to college but is never seen in the movie. And that’s all you’ll find out about this insecure “frenemy” couple.

Alex, Tess, Balls and Christine hang out with a friendly gay married couple named Stephen (played by Sean Hayes) and Geoffrey (played by Scott Icenogle), who have almost nothing told about them in the movie except they are a third couple in the “triple date” hangouts shown between these six people. “Is This Thing On?” makes Stephen and Geoffrey so vague and inconsequential to the story, Stephen and Geoffrey didn’t need to be in the movie at all. It seems like Stephen and Geoffrey are only in the movie as “tokens” who are not presented as anything but “gay friends to the story’s heterosexual protagonists.”

Perhaps the biggest disappointment in “Is This Thing On?” is the movie’s superficial depiction of the New York comedy scene. Although the movie has real-life comedians (such as Jordan Jensen, Chloe Radcliffe and Reggie Conquest) portraying themselves, they have cameos, not significant roles, in Alex’s life. Fun fact: “Is This Thing On?” cinematographer Matthew “Matty” Libatique also portrays a stand-up comedian in the movie.

“Is This Thing On?” glosses over or outright ignores how cutthroat and competitive stand-up comedy can be in real life. All the comedians who interact with Alex are immediately helpful and nice to him. If these new acquaintances have any dark sides to their personalities or personal demons (and many stand-up comedians do in real life), you don’t see any of that in this movie. Some of the comedians tell Alex that they think he’s got the potential to be a successful comedian if he works hard enough at it, but none of them seems jealous, and any criticisms they have for Alex about his comedic talent are told in a light-hearted manner. It’s all too good to be true.

There’s also a climactic scene using the Queen/David Bowie song “Under Pressure” that might remind people of the “Under Pressure” scene in the 2010 comedy/drama “It’s Kind of a Funny Story,” directed by Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden and starring Zach Galifianakis. Considering that Cooper and Galifianakis co-starred in “The Hangover” movies together, and Cooper is a well-known movie aficionado, it’s hard to imagine Cooper not being aware of this “Under Pressure” scene in “It’s Kind of a Funny Story” and possibly being inspired by it. It’s not a ripoff scene in “Is This Thing On?,” but more originality was needed for this movie’s climactic scene.

“Is This Thing On?” mostly excels in its performances. Arnett and Dern have believable chemistry as a couple trying to figure out if they should stay married or not, and as parents trying not to let their marital discord be traumatic to their children. Some of the stand-up comedy bits and other scenes are amusing. The movie’s cinematography (lots of shaky-cam closeups) might not be to everyone’s liking. However, as an overall cinematic experience, “Is This Thing On?” hits in enough of the right places to watch the movie at least once and get some enjoyment out of it.

Searchlight Pictures will release “Is This Thing On?” in U.S. cinemas on December 19, 2025.

Review: ‘Next Goal Wins’ (2023), starring Michael Fassbender, Oscar Kightley, Kaimana, David Fane, Rachel House, Beulah Koale, Will Arnett and Elisabeth Moss

November 17, 2023

by Carla Hay

Michael Fassbender (center) in “Next Goal Wins” (Photo by Hilary Bronwyn Gayle/Searchlight Pictures)

“Next Goal Wins” (2023)

Directed by Taika Waititi

Culture Representation: Taking place in 2011, mostly in American Samoa, the comedy/drama film “Next Goal Wins” (based on real events) features Asian/Pacific Islander and white characters representing the working-class, middle-class and wealthy.

Culture Clash: A hard-drinking and volatile soccer coach is exiled to work with the American Samoa National Team, which hasn’t scored a goal in years.

Culture Audience: “Next Goal Wins” will appeal primarily to people who are fans of filmmaker Taika Waititi, star Michael Fassbender, and “against-all-odds” sports movies that are very corny.

Cast members of “Next Goal Wins,” including Lehi Falepapalangi (third from left), Kaimana (fourth from left), Michael Fassbender (fifth from left) and Beulah Koale (sixth from left). (Photo by Hilary Bronwyn Gayle/Searchlight Pictures)

“Next Goal Wins” should’ve been a creative and exciting sports movie, considering the uniqueness of this true story. Instead, it overuses tiresome clichés of a grumpy outsider training a ragtag team. The dull comedy and ethnic stereotypes are cringeworthy. “Next Goal Wins” had its world premiere at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival.

Directed by Taika Waititi (who co-wrote the subpar “Next Goal Wins” screenplay with Iain Morris), “Next Goal Wins” is based on a true story of how Dutch-born soccer coach Thomas Rongen transformed the American Samoa National Team from being on a losing streak of never scoring a goal in games for years to being a team capable of scoring goals and winning games. This story was also the subject of the 2014 documentary “Next Goal Wins.”

The scripted version of “Next Goal Wins” (which takes place in 2011) follows every single formula that has been done so many times already in similar movies, except the sports team in “Next Goal Wins” happens to have a transgender player. Waititi does occasional voiceover narration that’s supposed to sound folksy and whimsical, but it just comes across as annoying and unnecessary. Waititi also has a cameo role in the movie as an American Samoan priest.

In the beginning of “Next Goal Wins,” there’s a flashback to 2001, as the narrator explains that the American Samoa National Team experienced a humiliating 31-0 loss in a FIFA World Cup qualification match against Australia. Archival footage shows some of this match, as the narrator says the obvious: The American Samoan team is bad at playing soccer. The team hasn’t scored a goal in the 10 years since then.

“Next Goal Wins” then fast-forwards to 2011. The head of the American Samoa Football Federation is cheerful and friendly Tavita (played by Oscar Kightley), but he doesn’t have the respect of the team. How do we know they don’t respect him? While he was asleep, they used a marker pen to draw breasts on his face. Tavita has these markings on his face for a few days. It’s supposed to be a funny sight gag in the movie, but it just looks stupid.

Tavita’s wife Ruth (played by Rachel House) is fed up with the team never being able to win a game. At the spouses’ home, she tells Tavita what needs to happen to find a better coach for the team: “You have to go off-island.” Tavita and Ruth have a young adult son named Daru (played Beulah Koale), who is on the team and who dislikes this idea of finding a new coach from outside of American Samoa. “It’s treason!” Daru exclaims.

Ruth yells, “We’re getting a real coach!” And besides, Ruth tells Tavita and Daru, she’s already placed an ad to get a new coach for the team. The team has a coach named Ace (played by David Fane), who will be demoted to assistant coach when the American Samoa Football Federation finds a head coach who can “save” the American Samoa National Team.

Meanwhile, on the mainland United States, abrasive soccer coach Thomas Rongen (played by Michael Fassbender) is facing a four-person panel from the American Soccer Federation telling him that he’s been fired from his most recent team. Thomas still gets a chance to work for the American Soccer Federation, but he’s told that he’s being exiled to work with the losing-streak American Samoa National Team. Not surprisingly, Thomas is angry and insulted.

Making matters worse, two of the people who’ve made this decision are Thomas’ estranged wife Gail (played by Elisabeth Moss) and her current boyfriend Alex Magnussen (played by Will Arnett), the smug leader of the American Soccer Federation. (This love triangle scenario did not happen in real life.) Rhys Darby has a small and inconsequential role as another American Soccer Federation panelist named Rhys Marlin. Darby seems to be in this movie only because he’s a friend of Waititi, a fellow New Zealander comedian.

Also different from real life: The Thomas Rongen in this movie isn’t a native of the Netherlands. Instead of having a Dutch accent in this movie, Thomas Rongen has an Irish accent, because Fassbender has an Irish accent in real life. In this “Next Goal Wins” movie, Thomas is a stereotypical down-on-his luck coach with a drinking problem who hates having to work with a losing team.

The scenes of Thomas getting culture shock in American Samoa are unimaginative and boring. Thomas gets annoyed that every person who gives him a car ride in American Samoa is laid-back and won’t drive faster than 20 miles per hour. Thomas thinks it’s ridiculous that people in American Samoa want to work less hours than what he’s accustomed to on the mainland.

Thomas doesn’t understand the local tradition of “curfew time,” when people stop everything during certain times of the day to pray and meditate. Thomas becomes enraged when the team members tell him that they don’t want to practice on Sundays, for religious reasons. That’s why it looks so phony later in the movie when Thomas (who acts like he’s allergic to religion for most of “Next Goal Wins”) actually gets baptized in a body of water, with several members of the team in attendance.

As for the team members, only a few have memorable personalities. Daru is the team’s rebellious “bad boy” and is one of the team’s worst players. Jaiyah (played by Kaimana) is a transitioning transgender woman, whose name in her previous life was Johnny. Rambo (played by Semu Filipo) is a goofy and bumbling police officer, who somehow gets recruited to the team after he pulls Thomas over for erratic speeding on the road.

Other team members include Jonah (played by Chris Alosio), a promising young striker; Pisa (played by Lehi Falepapalangi), a large-sized goalie; and Samson (played by Hio Pelesasa), a long-haired midfielder. There’s a very hokey segment of the movie where Thomas and Jaiyah work together to track down former team members in attempts to convince them to play for the team again. The most notable of these former members is Smiley (played by Ioane Goodhue), a goalie who was on the team during the embarrassing 2001 FIFA loss and is the closest thing that the team had to a star player.

At first, Thomas clashes with Jaiyah the most because Thomas doesn’t understand what being transgender means. Jaiyah and Thomas get into a physical brawl after Thomas taunts Jaiyah by calling her by her dead name Johnny, even though Thomas knew how offensive that would be to Jaiyah. But in a sappy movie like “Next Goal Wins,” you just know there will come a time when the coach and player who started off as enemies will find a way to become friends.

The movie’s approach to soccer is incredibly simple-minded. Thomas announces to the team that his strategy is for them to work on “strength and discipline,” which he compares to being like “cheese and pepper.” The practice scenes are jumbled and filmed in a lazy way.

The team has a young fan named Armani (played by Armani Makaiwa), who’s about 12 or 13 years old. The movie treats him like a mindless mascot, because Armani doesn’t say anything in the movie, which never bothers to explain why this mute child has all this time to spend with the team. Shouldn’t he be in school? Where are his parents?

There’s also a very misleading subplot about Thomas constantly listening to voice mail messages from his teenage daughter Nicole (voiced by Kaitlyn Dever), who is always asking why Thomas won’t communicate with her. Why won’t he call her back? The answer, which is revealed near the end of the movie, is completely manipulative.

“Next Goal Wins” repeatedly shows that Thomas wants to get back together with his estranged wife Gail, but it never mentions why they broke up in the first place. The separation from Gail is supposed to make Thomas look lovelorn and sympathetic. But it doesn’t work, because he’s such a relentless jerk for most of the movie, until he goes through a sudden personality change after making a big speech.

“Next Goal Wins” has some heartfelt and well-acted scenes with Thomas and Jaiyah, but how they end up befriending each other looks too forced and contrived. The racial issues that were hinted at in the beginning of the movie, when Daru objected to hiring a non-Samoan coach, are warped to fit a “white savior” narrative, when “Next Goal Wins” becomes about Thomas and how he’s uncomfortable with Samoan culture. The movie treats the Samoans as all having to accommodate Thomas and eventually be willing to tolerate Thomas’ insults and tirades.

Outstanding sports movies about athletic teams make viewers feel like they know several members of the team, not just a few. Unfortunately, that isn’t the case with “Next Goal Wins,” which makes most of the team members utterly generic side characters. The Samoan team members in “Next Goal Wins” are portrayed as helpless dolts who need a rejected and rude coach of European heritage to make them into a winning team. It’s ethnic condescension at its worst. “Next Goal Wins” might have worked as a satire of sports movie stereotypes, but the movie’s comedy and overall filmmaking are as limp as a deflated soccer ball.

Searchlight Pictures released “Next Goal Wins” in U.S. cinemas on November 17, 2023.