Jay Kelly, 2025.
Directed by Noah Baumbach.
Starring George Clooney, Adam Sandler, Laura Dern, Billy Crudup, Riley Keough, Grace Edwards, Stacy Keach, Jim Broadbent, Patrick Wilson, Eve Hewson, Greta Gerwig, Alba Rohrwacher, Josh Hamilton, Lenny Henry, Emily Mortimer, Isla Fisher, and Noah Baumbach.
SYNOPSIS:
Famous movie actor Jay Kelly embarks on a journey of self-discovery, confronting his past and present with his devoted manager Ron. Poignant and humor-filled, pitched at the intersection of regrets and glories.
Co-writer/director Noah Baumbach’s (collaborating with Emily Mortimer on the screenplay, who also has a supporting role) Jay Kelly mostly skirts around the common flaw and frustration for fictional films about the industry in that, more often than not, they come across as unrelatable stories about rich people’s problems. There is something much more universal here, even if it sometimes threatens to be drowned out by a bit too much sentimentality and self-importance.
The narrative centers on George Clooney’s eponymous Jay Kelly, a legendary great along the lines of say, Robert De Niro (based on the dialogue, this fictional world also coexists within the actual industry we know) who has lost his box office star power due to father time (and likely the depressing state of the industry itself, although that doesn’t come up here), has estranged friends dying around him (ones he kept putting off reconnecting with), and two daughters that basically want nothing to do with him.
In other words, Jay is an actor who not only achieved towering success but also had to forgo being a reliable, attentive family man to remain at the top of Hollywood. The irony in all this (and something that understandably frustrates his daughters, both of whom are now adults) is that Jay often played that role on-screen. He is a hero to the world. In reality, he has been divorced four times, and has been nothing but a letdown to his friends and family, all while actively striving to be nothing like his egomaniacal father (Stacy Keach), who briefly appears.
To be fair, there should be an asterisk over “friends.” The closest thing Jay has to one is his manager Ron (Adam Sandler with his signature brand of sardonic humor funneled through a human and grounded character), who is there for his every need and crisis to the point that he has been sucked away from his own family, creating a parasitic cycle of Hollywood industry men as neglectful family men. Hell, Ron was once smitten with Laura Dern’s Liz, another player on the Jay Kelly team, which didn’t work out because of his dedication as a manager. Across the film, old feelings also return. It’s also entirely plausible that Jay doesn’t truly reciprocate Ron’s genuine affection and friendship, despite his support during uncertain and tumultuous times.
Jay has a lot to consider about his personal life and legacy, not only as a Hollywood star but as a human being. Escalating that midlife crisis is a reunion with a former acting friend named Timothy (Billy Crudup), which starts off friendly enough as an attempt to bury any hatchet. That is, until Timothy’s old wounds resurface, culminating in Jay’s physical anger. Naturally, in this day and age, this could instantly undo his status as Hollywood’s golden boy if it were to surface online.
However, that arc isn’t necessarily about cancel culture per se; instead, it explores the concept of legacy through the fickle nature of public perception. One minute, a star is a saintly hero no one can fathom doing anything wrong. The next minute, that fallibility is in danger of being on full display for the public to flip their minds like a switch and take out their pitchforks. This is also a film about guilt and regrets, as one flashback shows that maybe Jay did steal Timothy’s future life. There is also a case to be made that he stole nothing, considering that it is clear Timothy never would have had Jay’s talent. It’s also a brilliant casting choice to put George Clooney in that role if it’s part of what the plot hinges on, but credit also must go to Charlie Rowe for capturing an impressive fraction of that charm.
Yes, Jay Kelly becomes cloying at times and doesn’t quite earn aspects of its ending. The core is about a man reckoning with certain choices, desperately hoping to be a part of his daughters’ lives again. It’s about someone who lost sight of who he is as a person, a theme beautifully driven home through a running joke involving cheesecake, of all things. Noah Baumbach’s gift for situational humor is on full display with characters who feel real. This isn’t a film that uses the industry to alienate through insider lingo and talk, but rather an opportunity to tell a story within those parameters that has moving universality.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★ ★
Robert Kojder
