In some ways, I appreciate the scaled-back approach. Cinemas have been lacking for these kinds of movies of late: stories about grown-ups working through their feelings, navigating interpersonal relationships, and at no point picking up a gun, encountering a demon, or doing battle with a supervillain or serial killer. The tension of Is This Thing On? simply revolves around whether Alex will make some emotional progress while he tells his punch lines, and if doing so will help him heal his rift with his wife, Tess (Laura Dern). In an awards season filled with human suffering, the premise is a refreshing downshift.