Deadline’s Read the Screenplay series, highlighting the hottest storylines of the movie awards season, continues with Is Is this thing on?Searchlight’s comedy-drama set in the world of New York stand-up. Bradley Cooper directed the pic, which he wrote based on the original screenplay from the film’s stars Will Arnett and Mark Chappell.
The film had its world premiere in October at the New York Film Festival (the film takes place in New York), and in its select theaters on December 19 (so tread lightly with the spoilers).
Arnett plays Alex, once again facing the middle and collapse of his marriage to Tess (Laura Dern), and an ex-athlete going through similar existential crises. The couple navigates co-parenting and everything in between wondering if love can take a new form. For Alex, that means understanding what it all means on comedy club stages.
The story is based on the real-life story of John Bishop, a pharmaceutical salesman from Manchester who, in the midst of his own impending divorce, attended an open mic night at a local pub and used the stage for a stand-up set focusing on the problems of him and his wife. Bishop found the act therapeutic and continued – until one evening his wife appeared in the audience.
Arnett heard the story and jumped at it, writing a script with his writing partner Chappell and eventually passing it on to Cooper, a longtime friend who was in production on his Oscar-nominated film. Maestro at the time. Cooper, who turns out to have spent a lot of time in comedy clubs, embraced the script to infuse that world into the proceedings and more into the relationship between Alex and Tess, then took over directing. (Note: Arnett prepared for the role by going on stage like Alex in real New York clubs; some sets were killed, others bombed, he and Cooper say).
Cooper also stars alongside Andra Day, Christine Ebersole, Ciarán Hinds, Amy Sedaris, Sean Hayes and Scott Icenogle. He also has “screenplay” credit with Arnett & Chappell; the last two have the “story of” credit with Bishop.
Read the script here:
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