Jay Kelly (2025), from the New Orleans Film Festival
George Clooney has been getting Oscar buzz as the lead in director Noah Baumbach's Jay Kelly, portraying an aging movie star heading to Europe for a career tribute with his long-suffering manager Ron (Adam Sandler). It's a good film and a good performance by Clooney, so there may indeed be a nomination in his future.
Clooney's Kelly is facing a crossroads
as the youngest of his two daughters (Grace Edwards) is about to head off to
college. Kelly hasn't been a deadbeat dad, but he has definitely been the type
of person to prioritize his career over family time. His oldest daughter (Riley
Keough) still resents him for this. Ron also has two daughters, and Kelly's
demands keep him from them for long stretches, as well.
At two hours and 12 minutes, Jay
Kelly rambles a bit in stretches, and a few of the comedy bits feel a tad
forced. However, for the most part, it's an effective character study. While the
movie star life that Kelly lives is a privileged one, it comes with its share
of downsides, too. Kelly tries to reconnect with an old friend (Billy Crudup),
only to learn he's exceedingly bitter about Kelly's success. The people he
spends the most time with are all people on his payroll, which creates a
barrier to forming genuine friendships.
Somewhat appropriately for a film about
a movie star, Jay Kelly is often at its best when Clooney is letting his
pure movie star charisma shine. There's no better example of this than when
Kelly finds himself on a packed train in France with a crowd of ordinary
people. At first, it seems like this might lead to a tense an awkward
encounter, but Kelly effortlessly charms and delights everyone in the train.
Baumbach's script (co-written with
Emily Mortimer) also does a good job of making Kelly human. He's a flawed man
who has clearly made some mistakes in his life but he's not a bad one, either.
Like everyone who reaches middle age, he's just a person looking back on his
life and contemplating the choices he has made.
Jay Kelly will get Netflix's
usual extremely limited theatrical release on November 14.
