"A man walks into a bar and, to avoid paying a $15 cover, signs up for an open mic night. He's in the midst of a divorce and a little high, a walking, middle-aged black rain cloud. He's never done stand-up before. The punchline? He's actually kinda good at it rough around the edges, unpracticed, a little stiff but, under the glare of the spotlight, able to spin some of his pain into self-deprecating jokes and unforced laughs."
"It helps immensely that this man is played by Will Arnett, the gravelly voiced comedian and former BoJack Horseman who excels at masculine sad-sacks with self-flagellating charm. Like Arnett the celebrity podcast host, Arnett's Alex is self-deprecating, subtle, effortlessly if dryly funny in other words, easy to root for, even in the very midlife crisis pursuit of stand-up comedy. Their split, at least, was amicable."
An aimless, recently separated man avoids a $15 bar cover by signing up for open mic and unexpectedly proves capable at stand-up, turning his pain into self-deprecating jokes. Will Arnett portrays Alex with a gravelly voice and rueful charm as a masculine sad-sack who becomes easy to root for. Bradley Cooper directs and co-wrote the film, which favors a subtle, self-deprecating rom-com about two people who were married for 20 years over a straight discovery-of-stand-up story. Alex and Tess split amicably, share custody of their two 10-year-old sons, and navigate quotidian post-divorce struggles amid meddling parents and spare living arrangements.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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