Bradley Cooper scenes from marriage
Films have forever explored the mysteries of marriage in all its aspects starting with classics like Ingmar Bergman’s film Scenes from marriageStanley Donen Two for the roadOscar-winning Robert Benton Kramer vs. Kramer And the directorial debut of Edward Albee’s Piercing Mike Nichols Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?all the way to Noah Baumbach’s house Marriage story For example, but not limited to. Now it’s Bradley Cooper’s turn Is this thing running?deftly marching to the beat of its own drum, capturing two decent people who, as one of its deepest lines suggests, are not “unhappy.” with Their marriage, just unhappy in “Their marriage.”
I don’t know why this hitherto unannounced film (which appropriately had its world premiere in a city that was set to lively as the closing night of the New York Film Festival on Friday) should suddenly race, for me, to the forefront of the most talked about films of the fall, but I shouldn’t be surprised. Cooper has proven with his previous directorial efforts that he is geared toward the entertainment industry A star is born and Maestro He’s the real deal behind the camera, as well as in front of it. I wasn’t expecting such an insightful analysis of two people stuck in a marriage where each of their truths are so deeply buried, it takes a new form of therapy, I’d say. leastTo save them from the abyss.
Inspired by the true story of British pharmaceutical executive John Bishop, and supported by the long friendship between Cooper and actor Will Arnett. Is this thing running? It gets straight to the heart of the matter with an early late-night scene in the shared bathroom of Alex Novak (Arnett) and his wife Tess (Laura Dern) staring in the mirror and doing mundane bedtime things when Alex suddenly asks matter-of-factly: “Time to call it a day?” Tess agrees, and at that moment, we see them talking about their 20-year marriage. However, the smart, insightful, and often very funny, screenplay by Cooper, Arnett, and Mark Chappell (in which Bishop also shares a “written story” credit) doesn’t offer much exposition about how we got here, but instead quickly focuses on Alex’s plight, a rather sad ordeal as he moves into his own apartment, away from his wife Two sons and their dogs, and he’s trying to adjust to life living on his own. And then he stumbles upon a rather radical idea to help him get over this trauma: an open mic night (so he can avoid fees) at the Comedy Cellar in New York City that offers him the chance to try out his own stand-up act. no He owns. As the film progresses, we see him using it as his own brand of therapy, standing up in front of a group of strangers and telling them with brutal honesty where it all went wrong, at least from his personal perspective. This is exactly what happened to Bishop in real life when he separated from his wife.
As in this scenario, Alex becomes more comfortable revealing the more intimate details of his marriage on subsequent nights, and the crowds grow larger, though the venue’s open-mic comedy host, Kemp (the wonderful Amy Sedaris), offers an oblique compliment that it’s basically… good There, even while it’s a bad situation, this new pastime becomes addictive. There’s no attempt to show him at his day job (in finance, apparently) or focus on anything other than the unraveling of his incoherent happiness, which we eventually see unfold on the other side as well with Tess, who, by the way, is… ignorant Regarding Alex’s newfound fame in the basement (so… not so When he accidentally stumbles into the club (a wild coincidence that actually happened to Bishop). It turned out that she was a very successful former Olympian in volleyball, a champion in the sport from the age of 11 until retirement, which she denied and convinced herself she was trading in for her marriage and the two children she had spent years in the lab trying to have. However, this breakup brought back her personal frustrations with the prospect of becoming a coach, something that seemed out of the question in her current life as a wife and mother. A chance reunion and dinner with her old friend and colleague Laird (Peyton Manning) raises the stakes as he encourages her to return as coach of the 28th Olympic team could be a good thing. He didn’t realize that she and Alex had broken up, and she didn’t realize that he was now single either, so it seems at this moment that this could be heading in a more predictable direction. Not so fast. This movie doesn’t flounder in predictability.
Weaving in and out of all this are a number of cast members, including another couple, the eccentric struggling actor Bowles, who amusingly plays Cooper with a full beard and glasses, and his sharp-tongued wife, Christine (Andra Day), who are close friends and actually see the deteriorating relationship between Alex and Tess as a reflection of their unspoken problems. Others include a circle of friends, such as New Age The big cold (A great breakfast scene is an homage.) Including Stephen (Sean Hayes) and Jeffrey (Scott Icenogle), who seem like the happiest union in the group. As an actor, Cooper has always been adept at comedy, and here in the standard supporting role of best friend, he once again displays some great timing, as does The Magnificent Day, who nails it memorably in some very short scenes. Also of note are Christine Ebersol and Ciaran Hinds as Marilyn and Jan, Alex’s concerned parents, both exemplary veteran stars.
also Perfect is the supporting cast of true comics in Cellar, especially Jordan Jensen, Chloe Radcliffe, Reggie Conquest and Dave Attell, who are particularly funny. Shout out to casting director Shaina Markowitz. Although they are all good, this is not another Cooper entertainment story, but one that focuses on a marriage that does not take into account the individual partner’s personal needs for happiness and fulfillment. This is not so The jokebut the environment is the perfect backdrop, and the idea of standing on stage and finding yourself in the process is inspiring. It’s also a recurring theme in several new films this fall, including… Hamnetwith Will Shakespeare bringing his marriage and tragedy to the creation of the film village; Stellan Skarsgård as a director writes a role for his daughter as a way to renew their estranged relationship in Emotional value; Brendan Fraser, as a supporting actor, finds real work in Japan, exposing his flaws Rent family; And George Clooney as a star actor in a life crisis trying to find a way back to his family Jay KellyThey all use some point, like Alex, to fix their broken lives.
Arnett is rarely given this kind of leadership opportunity on screen, and he is terrific here, an actor playing a role that looks as if his name is written all over it. Dern also, as you might expect, makes Tess completely three-dimensional, a woman desperately trying to unstuck and reconnect with the person she once was.
The filmmaking here is exceptional, including Charlie Greene’s exceptional editing, Matthew Libatique’s tight and tense cinematography, and even Cooper himself manning one of the cameras. If there was any other kind of filmmaking, This thing I have to go back to a lot of Paul Mazursky’s memorable films from the late 1960s and 1970s, films like Bob, Carol, Ted and Alice, Bloom in love, Unmarried womanin-your-face human portraits that give us close, personal connections with the characters who inhabit them. Cooper achieves that kind of intimacy here Is this thing running?An achievement worthy of applause.
Producers are Cooper, Arnett, Weston Middleton and Chris Thickier.
address: Is this thing running?
festival: New York
distributor: Scout pictures
release date: December 19, 2025
exit: Bradley Cooper
Screenwriters: Bradley Cooper, Will Arnett and Mark Chappelle
ejaculate: Will Arnett, Laura Dern, Bradley Cooper, Andra Day, Kieran Hinds, Christine Ebersol, Sean Hayes, Scott Icenogle, Amy Sedaris
classification: R
Operating time: 2 hours