Jay Kelly
- Adam Sandler, Alba Rohrwacher, Amy Pascal, Billy Crudup, Charlie Rowe, David Heyman, Emily Mortimer, Eve Hewson, George Clooney, Grace Edwards, Greta Gerwig, Isla Fisher, Jim Broadbent, Josh Hamilton, Laura Dern, Lenny Henry, Louis Partridge, Nicôle Lecky, Noah Baumbach, Patrick Wilson, Riley Keough, Stacy Keach, Thaddea Graham
Dustin Chase
George Clooney’s description of his character Jay Kelly is a “likable jerk”. The two-time Oscar winner (one for supporting actor, the other for producing) insists he isn’t playing a version of himself in Noah Baumbach’s latest. “Jay Kelly” is a return to the manic style of filmmaking Baumbach built a career on. Characters are always moving, multiple people are talking at once, and a handheld camera is whipping back and forth trying to capture all the various points of chaos. It’s a film about Hollywood, for Hollywood, and that might be its biggest problem. Certainly not the first film about the inside workings of the film industry, but usually we have an outsider that the viewers can relate to (“America’s Sweetheart,” “Notting Hill,” “The Idea of You”). “Jay Kelly” is a lot of inside baseball with a lot of unrelatable scenarios.
Jay Kelly (Clooney) loves his acting and celebrity career. It’s not just the fame and fortune that come with success, but he relishes the demand and self-importance of his work. Creating art that goes out into the world where people pat him on the back. He describes what he does as essentially lying for a living. Reflecting on his career, he realizes he’s the only one who really cares about it. His relationship with two daughters is threadbare, his only friends are paid and for maybe the first time in his life contemplates if it’s been worth it. Kelly’s longtime manager and friend Ron (Adam Sandler) has always struggled with Jay’s selfish behavior. Kelly’s latest impromptu trip to Italy to try and spend time with his teenage daughter while also accepting a lifetime achievement award at a film festival will push their relationship to the brink.
“Jay Kelly” is not a film about an empty vessel of a guy who goes through self-discovery to become a better actor, friend, or dad in the end."
Baumbach and co-writer Emily Mortimer who also appear on screen, admit they wrote the role of Jay Kelly with Clooney in mind. “That worried me,” Clooney admitted at a press conference for the film. Jay Kelly or not, Clooney is portraying a very familiar character. The same goes for Laura Dern who comes across as another version of her Oscar winning lawyer in Baumbach’s “Marriage Story.” Billy Crudup takes a page out of his ruthless “The Morning Show” character and applies that here. The only actor in a role that’s remotely fresh is Adam Sandler. Ron is where the audience finds sympathy and emotion. There comes a moment when Ron can’t handle Jay’s behavior anymore. It’s essentially a breakup scene between friends and colleagues that’s a unique blend of Sandler’s comedy but re-calculated for Baumbach’s style.
“Jay Kelly” is not a film about an empty vessel of a guy who goes through self-discovery to become a better actor, friend, or dad in the end. You could argue that very little change happens to this guy along the journey and that’s frustrating for an audience.
The more we get to know Jay Kelly the less we like him. While Clooney might be a bit full of himself, he’s mostly a solid, savvy, smart and likeable person. “Jay Kelly” would have been more effective with someone like Johnny Depp or a messier real life celebrity seeking catharsis through art. “Jay Kelly” plays like a nuanced tale (Baumbach and Mortimer telling their friends not to be like these people) for other celebrities more than it does for general audiences.
Final Thought
Sandler is the heart of the film, playing it smaller and against type.