Is This Thing On? 4K Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		5.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.5
Overall		3.5

Is This Thing On? 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman March 12, 2026

Note: For perhaps the first time in my reviewing of home media distributed by Disney / Buena Vista, this two disc release includes 4K UHD and 1080 presentations on separate discs, but as of the writing of this review there is no standalone 1080 release.

Bette Davis reportedly stated "old age ain't for sissies", and a corollary of that growing older aspect might be "long marriages ain't for sissies, either". While neither Alex Novak (Will Arnett) nor Tess Novak (Laura Dern) are exactly senior citizens, and in fact their two children are still rather young, the excitement is gone from their marriage, and they both know it. They kind of resignedly but calmly discuss that "it's over" with each other, though the early part of the film's screenplay (co-written by Arnett, director and co-star Bradley Cooper and Mark Chappell) actually elides quite a bit of information in order to quickly move the narrative on, so a bit of patience may be required until things settle down and the upshot of the separation becomes clear. Suffice it to say that Alex, wandering around the city after having sent Tess back to their home alone after their "last night out together", stumbles across a comedy club where he doesn't even have the cover charge to get inside. While it's not explicitly shown, Alex finagles entry by putting his name on the list of standup wannabes who are trying out their material at the place, and while he doesn't exactly slay, he does get some decent laughs from an apparently on the spot routine about figuring out he was in the throes of a divorce.

Bradley Cooper started his directorial career with A Star Is Born , certainly an "epic" of sorts for a newcomer, but one which Cooper handled with apparent ease. His facility continued with Maestro (interestingly still unavailable on 1080 or 4K Blu-ray), though in a more overtly "showy" way that seemed to indicate Cooper wanted to strut his directorial stuff, so to speak. (When the 6'1" Cooper was first announced to play Lenny, I may have impudently asked if he were going to play the part with his legs tied behind his back like Jose Ferrer in Moulin Rouge*, since Bernstein was rather famously short. It was of course another "special make up effect" that ended up attracting attention.) Is This Thing On? seems to suggest that Cooper wanted to return to a more "intimate" setting, though in this case he doesn't have the "wow" factor of music and/or Lady Gaga, and the results, while often quite intelligent and even moving, may still be perceived as a bit "distanced" like the Bernstein biopic.

This is very much an actor's piece, and Cooper was fortunate to get Arnett and Dern in the lead roles, as they have both gravitas and a liberal dose of whimsy suffusing their characterizations. Things may frankly be a bit less felicitous with regard to Cooper himself, here playing a boneheaded actor named Balls (sure), who has his own marital problems with wife and Tess' BFF Christine (Andra Day). Sean Hayes and Scott Icenogle, married in real life, are consigned here to glorified cameo status that Will & Grace's Jack would have complained bitterly about. Maybe just a little incredibly Peyton Manning is also on hand as a prospective beau for Tess. Kind of weirdly, the actual standup vignettes never attain giddy heights, and in fact a lot of Alex's musings are downright depressive, if darkly humorous from that standpoint alone.

Note: My colleague Brian Orndorf was evidently much less fond of Is This Thing On? than I was. You can read Brian's thoughts here.

*The link points to a Region B disc.

Is This Thing On? 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Note: Screenshots are sourced from the 1080 disc in this package.

Is This Thing On? is presented in 4K UHD courtesy of Searchlight Pictures and Disney / Buena Vista with an HEVC / H.265 encoded 2160p transfer in 1.66:1. (The included 1080 disc has an AVC encode in the same aspect ratio.) Both the 1080 and 4K presentations are beautifully detailed a lot of the time courtesy of Cooper's use of extreme close-ups and what he identifies in the sole supplement as a preference for 40mm lenses. The claustrophobic aspect of so many framings is obviously intentional, but it tends to emphasize the excellence of what the IMDb identifies as a 4K DI, probably understandably best in the 4K presentation itself. There are some momentary focus pulling issues (the supplement shows Cooper as camera operator a lot of the time, tooling around on what almost looks like a skateboard device to get up close and personal handheld footage) which can affect sharpness levels. The palette is rather interesting and kind of muted a lot of the time, but the HDR / Dolby Vision grades certainly bring out some luster in some of the blue backgrounds in the Novak home and the more crimson toned vignettes in the comedy club. Digital grain is certainly more evident in the 4K presentation, but it never rose to bothersome levels in my estimation.

Is This Thing On? 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

As often tends to be the case with Disney / Buena Vista distributed discs, the 4K UHD disc offers a Dolby Atmos track, whereas the 1080 disc features DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 as its lossless surround option. I have to say this is another film where the two codecs are frankly not all that different. There's arguably some height added to some of the club scenes in particular with regard to background audience reaction or just general clamor, and some of the urban material also benefits from the Atmos rendering, but overall both the Atmos track and 7.1 track offer good, consistent immersion if never really any overtly showy surround activity. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional subtitles in several languages are available.

Is This Thing On? 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Note: The 4K UHD disc in this package sports no supplements. The following bonus item is on the 1080 disc:

• Mic Drop: Making Is This Thing On? (HD; 12:47) is an enjoyable EPK with some good interviews with Cooper, Arnett and Dern, among others. Interestingly, the slates seen in behind the scenes footage bear the title Charlie, the name of the family dog.

A digital copy is enclosed. Packaging features a slipcover.

Is This Thing On? 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Arnett and Dern are excellent in this examination of a marriage "under pressure" (to quote a fun tune used at the end of the film), and they are probably engaging enough to help the film overcome some of its narrative shortcomings. Cooper talks in the supplement on the 1080 disc about rewriting some of Arnett's initial work, but this may have been an example of too many chefs in this particular kitchen, and the frankly unnecessary addition of so many supporting characters, including a kind of actually annoying turn by Cooper as Balls, may detract from what really should have been the major focus, the relationship between Alex and Tess. Some may feel even Tess gets a bit of a short shrift here in terms of a balanced approach toward a marriage experience some bumpiness. Technical merits are solid, and the sole supplement very enjoyable. With caveats noted, Recommended.