Will Arnett, Laura Dern Struggle in Post-Marriage Lives in New ‘Is This Thing On?’ Trailer

Will Arnett works through the end of his marriage and pending divorce by tackling New York’s comedy scene as a newbie stand-up comic in the latest trailer for Bradley Cooper’s Is This Thing On?

Arnett plays Alex Novak, who is splitting from wife Tess (Laura Dern) as she in turn confronts the sacrifices she made for their family. “You knew I was struggling. And you left me alone,” Tess tells Alex at one point in the trailer.

“I left you alone? You checked out!” he shouts back as both struggle to co-parent, forge new identities for themselves and possibly find new love as they deal with mid-life frustrations.

Cooper directed Is This Thing On? based on a script he co-wrote with Arnett and Mark Chappell. The life of British comedian John Bishop inspired the movie’s story.

The Hollywood Reporter film critic David Rooney writes of the comic drama in his New York Film Festival review: “In Cooper’s tenderly observed third feature, Is This Thing On?, performance is a rebound reflex, a therapeutic means of working through the end of a marriage and stumbling onto the self-discovery necessary to process what went wrong — inadvertently realizing that the foundations on which it was built remain intact. It’s an unassuming comic drama that sneaks up on you, its emotional honesty fueled by gorgeous performances of unimpeachable naturalness from Will Arnett and Laura Dern.”

Is This Thing On? is Cooper’s directorial follow up to Maestro and his directorial debut with A Star Is Born. As with A Star Is Born and Maestro, Cooper is also part of the cast of his third film, the ensemble cast of which includes Andra Day, Christine Ebersole, Ciarán Hinds, Sean Hayes and Amy Sedaris.

Searchlight Pictures will release the pic in select theaters on Dec. 19 after its world premiere at the New York Film Festival. The producers include Cooper, Arnett, Weston Middleton and Kris Thykier.