Bradley Cooper's New Mid-Life Crisis Comedy Debuts With Near-Perfect Rotten Tomatoes Score

Bradley Cooper’s latest directorial effort Is This Thing On? had its world premiere screening at the New York Film Festival on Friday, October 10. Early reactions indicate that the director of A Star Is Born and Maestro may have made another critically acclaimed film.

The first Rotten Tomatoes score for Is This Thing On? were revealed just hours after the film’s debut, and they’re near perfect at a 93% as of writing. That number is likely to change, in either direction, as more reviews come in, but it bodes well for Cooper to have three “Certified Fresh” films among the first three films he’s directed.

The mid-life crisis comedy/drama stars Will Arnett as a man going through a divorce who finds a new outlet in the New York comedy scene. In these first batch of reviews, critics describe the film as “warm and generous,” “observant, bittersweet,” and features “gorgeous performances” from Arnett and co-star Laura Dern. Cooper, Andra Day, Amy Sedaris, Sean Hayes, Christine Ebersole, Ciarán Hinds, and Scott Icenogle also star.

General audiences still have to wait a while to watch Is This Thing On?, as its release date is set for December 19, but the film’s strong reception should only help build some buzz with audiences, and potentially for the film’s Oscar chances.

While certainly one of the most popular actors working today, Cooper has proven himself a talented director as well. A Star Is Born was a hit on every level, with a 90% “Certified Fresh” score on RT, $439.94 million at the worldwide box office, and eight Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, with one win for Best Original Song (“Shallow”).

Maestro, meanwhile, received a 78% “Certified Fresh” score on RT and earned seven Oscar nominations, Best Picture included. There’s no US box office available for Maestro because the film was produced by Netflix, which doesn’t typically report box office numbers for their limited releases.

Is This Thing On? will look to continue Cooper’s streak of his films being nominated for Best Picture. However, despite the wide acclaim and Oscar success that he’s received to date, Cooper has not yet been nominated for Best Director at the Oscars.

Cooper also made some news recently on the acting front, as he was announced as joining the Ocean’s prequel alongside Margot Robbie. He was last seen on screen playing Jor-El, Superman’s father, in James Gunn’s Superman, which was a controversial depiction of Superman’s parents.