Rent Is This Thing On? on Amazon Video (paid link)
Written by: Bradley Cooper and Will Arnett & Mark Chappell (screenplay by), Will Arnett & Mark Chappell & John Bishop (story by)
Directed by: Bradley Cooper
Starring: Will Arnett, Laura Dern, Andra Day, Bradley Cooper, Sean Hayes, Ciarán Hinds, Amy Sedaris, Peyton Manning
Rated: R
Watch the trailer
Plot
As their marriage unravels, Alex faces middle age and divorce, seeking new purpose in the New York comedy scene.
Verdict
Alex has to pick up the pieces while headed to a divorce. He inadvertently stumbles into stand up comedy. Alex isn't terrible at it, and it allows him to process his emotions. The divorce is akin to a mid life crises. Alex is starting over. This can be relatable, but it never has the big emotional payoff. It's never all that funny. The movie hopes you can relate to the feelings, but it never builds enough around that.
Skip it.
Review
This is inspired by English comedian John Bishop who also signed up for stand-up to avoid a cover charge which led to a career in comedy.
Alex (Will Arnett) is in a struggling marriage that looks like it would have ended already if he and his wife Tess (Laura Dern) weren't sticking it out for their young sons. Now they're planning how to separate, with Alex getting an apartment. One night he sees a club, and to avoid the cover charge, he signs up to perform stand up comedy. While he's already buzzed, his act goes better than I imagined. Despite a rocky start, he talks about his life, frustrations, and pending divorce. He's funny in the way that life isn't always what you expect. He muses that he didn't realize his marriage was teetering until his wife asked him to move out.
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| Will Arnett plays Alex Novak |
Alex attempts stand up again, this time hanging out with other comics who give him a crash course on comedy. He keeps going, getting better, but Alex's act is observational comedy about his life. Tess happens to unintentionally see a show. I wondered if she'd be upset about him sharing personal details, but they spend the night together. That provides more fodder for Alex's act as he describe the strange relationship as an affair with his ex.
While this is about divorce, it's also about being middle aged and looking for new experiences and starting again. Alex is trying to figure out what makes him happy, searching for a passion. While divorce is the catalyst, he could just as easily be having a mid-life crisis. His wife Tess is wrestling with the thought that Alex was in love with the idea of her as a volleyball player. She's not that anymore, afraid that Alex desires what she used to be. The two are faced with the question of what to do now, both in their marriage and life.
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| Will Arnett, Laura Dern play Alex, Tess Novak |
Alex's best friends Balls (Bradley Cooper) tells Alex he's inspired, considering a divorce to pursue his acting career. With this movie written and directed by Cooper, the cameo seems unnecessary on the surface, but on top of that Balls is such an strange character that he's a distraction from the plot. His only purpose is to provide a parallel to Alex despite Cooper playing it over the top. It's apparent Cooper really wanted you to remember the character. Balls eventually decides to stay with his wife which leads to Alex considering what was wrong with his own marriage.
Alex has a revelation that while he was unhappy in the marriage he wasn't unhappy about the marriage. This ends on a hopeful note. The problems between Alex and Tess were more about how they saw themselves than issues in the marriage, but if either of them can't be happy by themselves, unhappy together wasn't going to work.
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