JAY KELLY
(director/writer: Noah Baumbach; screenwriter: Emily Mortimer; cinematographer: Linus Sandgren; editor: Valerie Bonelli, Rachel Durance; music: Nicholas Britell; cast: George Clooney (Jay Kelly), Grace Edwards (Daisy Kelly), Adam Sandler (Ron Sukenick), Laura Dern (Liz), Riley Keough (Jessica Kelly), Greta Gerwig (Lois Sukenick), Stacy Keach (Jay’s Father, Mr. Kelly), Jim Broadbent (Peter Schneider), Patrick Wilson (Ben Alcock), Billy Crudup (Tim), Josh Hamilton (Carter), Eve Hewson (Daphne), Emily Mortimer (Candy); Runtime: 132; MPAA Rating: R; producers: Noah Baumbach, David Heyman, Amy Pascal; Netflix; 2025)
“Shallow and sentimental character story.”
Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz
Noah Baumbach (“White Noise”/”Marriage Story”) directs and co-writes with Emily Mortimer this shallow and sentimental character story on a middle-aged, old-fashioned Hollywood actor named Jay Kelly (George Clooney) going through a period of self-reflection.
It’s a strained dramedy about an American movie idol who pauses to look back at the choices he made to reach the top and questions if it was worth losing the love of his family and friends to have such a successful career.
Jay reflects further on his life after learning the director Peter Schneider (Jim Broadbent), who launched his career and became his mentor, has just died. This comes after he a few months ago fails to support Peter’s request to get financing for a film he wants to make because his reputation is slipping.
Jay meets at Peter’s funeral Tim (Billy Crudup), a former drama school classmate now a child psychologist he has not seen for years. After the funeral they dine at a bar, where the more talented would-be actor recalls how Jay stole from him a part that launched his career and that he never recovered from that setback or forgave him. Their encounter begins friendly but turns hostile, as they get into a fistfight.
The next day Jay flies to France, instead of reporting to the set for his new film.
The popular and charming mega-star Jay has wrapped his latest film and chooses to attend a Tuscan Film Festival to accept a lifetime achievement award. This distresses his longtime outspoken publicist Liz (Laura Dern), who has grown tired of covering-up for the misdeeds of her selfish boss. While his no show actions force his longtime devoted ‘yes man’ agent Ron (Adam Sandler) to leave his wife (Greta Gerwig) and go to France to meet him and straighten things out, as he fears this rash move could wreck his movie career. It seems that even if Ron treats Jay like a member of his family, the same treatment is not returned.
In Paris, the divorced dad goes by train to the Festival in the hopes of running into his estranged teenage daughter Daisy (Grace Edwards), who is traveling by train with her friends on her summer break to go backpacking all over Europe before starting college in the fall. They meet for a few minutes on the train as it leaves Paris, in the dining car, but things do not go well. Jay then joins Liz and Ron, who are on the train that is heading to Tuscany.
The actor is also stressed-out that his adult daughter Jessica (Riley Keough) and elderly father (Stacy Keach) are estranged from him because he has neglected them because of his busy work schedule. When he calls, she refuses to go to the tribute, and his dad comes to the tribute but leaves early.
Jay’s midlife crisis fully covers how cruel and vain things can be in Hollywood, but its soap opera story is so bland and weak that it packs little punch. Fellini’s 8 1/2 film in 1963 covered the same type of self-glorifying material for an egotistical actor (in that case a director) but did it with more style and splash.
“Jay Kelly” opens with a quote from the poet Sylvia Plath: “It’s a hell of a responsibility to be yourself. It’s much easier to be somebody else.” Too bad the smug film didn’t seem sincere and couldn’t come up with a more lyrical story to support that quote. But in its favor Clooney is at least believable in his star role of the Hollywood actor who’s really a cad with a nice guy facade. While Dern and Sandler help humanize the story with their sensitive supporting role performances.
It played at the Venice Film Festival.
REVIEWED ON 11/17/2025 GRADE: C
dennisschwartzreviews.com