‘Jay Kelly’ Review

The film industry has always been enamored by movies about the film industry, the more glamor the better. With ‘Jay Kelly’, Noah Baumbach provides the latest entry into this self reflective genre, casting George Clooney to play the closest approximation to himself to date – a Hollywood mega-star who has reached a level of fame unfathomable for most people.

Strong movie star performances are unfortunately not enough to elevate this dramatically static exploration into the hackneyed idea that fame might not always be all it’s cracked up to be.

We open with Jay Kelly on a brief respite between film shoots, hoping to spend time with his teenage daughter, Daisy (Grace Edwards), who instead reminds her dad that she is off to Europe to spend her final Summer before college with friends. Jay is put into more of a reflective mood after learning that the director who discovered him, Peter Schneider (Jim Broadbent) has passed away. At that funeral, Jay runs into a pre-stardom roommate, Tim (Billy Crudup), who after joyfully reminiscing about their younger days over drinks, accuses Jay of stealing what should have been his career, but at least he has a family who loves him as opposed to Jay, whose failed relationships, with partners and children, have been the source of gossip columns for decades.

Foisted into action by Tim’s harsh words, Jay abruptly cancels a scheduled film shoot and decides to accept a lifetime tribute award in Tuscany, giving him an excuse to gallivant around Europe in search of his daughter, hoping to prove to himself that not everybody in his life hates him. Jay is joined by his regular entourage to meet all of his movie star needs – security, beautician, agent – led by his loyal manager, Ron (Adam Sandler), who is leaving behind his own domestic dramas in the name of work.

The film opens with a single thematic question: is hyper-focusing on work at the expensive of close personal relationships worth it? This question is most clearly explored with Jay Kelly, whose pursuit of fame and superstardom, while clearly successful, lost him any hope of a close relationship with his eldest daughter, and might lose him his youngest as well. But this question lurks over every character, each of whom establishes different boundaries between work and home life. Ron is constantly taking phone calls from his family, unable to be there in person but unwilling to cut them off entirely.

The film ends with the same single thematic question, still unanswered, as the screenplay and its main character are both frustratingly unwilling to have an opinion.

Noah Baumbach is still expertly capable of bringing the best out of every actor in his ensemble, as so many people come in for one or two scenes and deliver powerful, memorable performances. Jim Broadbent, Billy Crudup, Laura Dern, Patrick Wilson, Stacy Keach – all of these actors come in and leave a mark, even as the characters themselves mostly serve as foils to the self-absorbed Jay Kelly’s existential crisis.

The greatest achievement of ‘Jay Kelly’ is in bringing George Clooney back to a character and a film worthy of his incredible talent, perhaps the first such role since 2016’s ‘Hail Caesar!’ Few actors can deliver the goods as a believable superstar, few actors have the cultural cache and public history of George Clooney that can enrich the character even at its most repetitive. As Jay Kelly, Clooney lays on his seemingly effortless charm so well, such that even as I grow frustrated with all of his staff enabling his self-pitying behavior, I understand why they stick around.

Adam Sandler is also strong as Ron, in an interesting bit of meta-casting given than Sandler is one of the few actors on Earth who can perhaps match Clooney’s own recognizability. While the performance is strong, the character’s writing doesn’t do Sandler any favors. We’re supposed to be rooting for Ron, understand that he genuinely cares about Jay and hopes desperately that that care is reciprocated, and yet rather than sympathetic I found him pathetic, neglecting his family even as he is shown again and again that his love for Jay is not returned.

In fact, other than the tired exploration of a well worn theme, my biggest gripe with ‘Jay Kelly’ is just how unlikable I found all of the characters, there was nobody I could grasp on to and root for. Jay Kelly spends the entire runtime feeling sorry for himself, walking into flashbacks and narrating his sorrows like a Hollywood Ebenezer Scrooge serving as his own Ghost of Christmas Past, and yet he is unwilling to do anything to change his circumstances. In one such flashback, his daughter yells at him and nails precisely why this character is so frustrating. She knows he didn’t want to spend time with her, because he didn’t spend time with her. Jay never takes accountability, never accepts that he has the agency to rebuild his relationships if he wants to, but he instead chooses to embark on a self-pitying midlife crisis. Alas, self pity does not make a character sympathetic, and I found it hard to care about Jay Kelly or his moral quandary, which is sadly the entirety of the film.

‘Jay Kelly’ has delightful moments of humor throughout and some strong directorial flourishes, such as an opening shot one-take that navigates through the frenzied behind the scenes of a film shoot only to finally push in on Jay Kelly delivering a dramatic monologue before wrapping. But the superficial exploration at the cost of fame, serving as the singular idea makes for a static and unfortunately repetitive viewing experience.

Jay Kelly
Rated R for language.
Running Time: 2 hours and 12 minutes

Director Noah Baumbach
Writers Noah Baumbach, Emily Mortimer
Stars George Clooney, Adam Sandler
Rating R
Running Time 132 Minutes
Genres Comedy, Drama