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'Is This Thing On?'-Funny, Emotional, Almost 'Annie Hall'

Poster of Is This Thing On?, starring Will Arnett and Laura Dern. Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures.

Hello, Review-Verse fans.

Earlier this month, I watched Will Arnett in Bradley Cooper's latest direction, Is This Thing On?. Arnett, who voiced a lot of characters in movies I grew up with, like Monsters vs Aliens, starred as Alex Novak, a husband divorced from his wife of 20 years, Tess, played by Laura Dern of Jurassic Park. Seeing Alex vent about his divorce at open mic nights at a comedy club reminded me of Woody Allen in Annie Hall. 

And Dern's character dealt with the divorce by putting passion into some volleyball coaching and getting back into the dating scene. 

I liked both Arnett and Dern's performances because they were doing something real-starting over with their social lives late into their adulting. There were fun jokes, there were sad moments, and kind of like Crazy, Stupid, Love, it doesn't explicitly show they call off the divorce and remarry, but it shows that they'll never stop reflecting on the victories, such as seeing their kids have fun in school.

If you can find it in theatres, or wait till streaming, check out Is This Thing On?. I found it was nice to see Will Arnett combine drama with comedy.


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