‘Jay Kelly’ Review: Hooray For Hollywood? Maybe Not.

Noah Baumbach’s Jay Kelly isn’t filled with sweet moments like Ingmar Bergman’s Wild Strawberries. However, like that film, it features an older man looking back on his life while traveling to accept a prestigious award. And, notably, it also includes pickles.

The pickles show up briefly, only in one scene, but they hold significance. We see this in one of the film’s numerous flashbacks, where famous actor Jay Kelly (played by George Clooney) recalls a visit from the director who launched his career 35 years prior. The director gave him his first acting role in a film titled Cranberry Street.

The director, Jim Broadbent, is trying to convince Jay to star in a new film. He really needs the funding, and he believes Jay’s name alone will secure it. As he explains the movie idea, he also makes Jay a sandwich. However, he’s completely lost in Jay’s large kitchen trying to find everything he needs, constantly pausing the pitch to ask where things are. “The mayo’s in the fridge, and the tomatoes are over there,” he asks. “The pickles are likely in the pantry-but check the expiration date,” Jay warns.

According to the director, pickles don’t go bad, and they still smell okay. He finishes his sandwich and offers a bite to Jay. Jay tries it and agrees it’s good. However, he’s still decided not to work on the director’s film. The director insists again: Pickles never expire.

However, people *do* care about these things. That’s why they’re significant in Jay Kelly, representing how temporary life is. Films are somewhat similar to pickles. A truly excellent movie will last longer than anyone involved in its creation. But does that justify dedicating years of your life and potentially neglecting important relationships just to make a single film?

That’s the central question explored in Jay Kelly – both the film and the character it portrays. The story opens with Kelly finishing up one job and preparing for the next. Now in his 60s, Jay has a strained relationship with his eldest daughter, Jessica (Riley Keogh), and is preparing to send his youngest, Daisy (Grace Edwards), away to college.

Kelly enjoys wealth, achievement, and recognition beyond anyone’s wildest dreams. When Daisy chooses to spend her final summer before college traveling through Europe instead of with her father and his team – including publicists, assistants, managers, stylists, and bodyguards – Jay begins to feel profoundly isolated, despite being surrounded by opportunistic employees. He falls into despair, questioning the meaning of everything he’s worked for. What was the purpose of it all?

Driven by a need for answers, Jay reluctantly accepts a lifetime achievement award from an Italian film festival he’d initially declined, using the trip as a cover to find his daughter across Europe. Gradually, members of Kelly’s team start to doubt their seemingly hopeless search for Daisy-everyone except Kelly’s most loyal employee, his manager Ron (Adam Sandler).

Ron appears willing to do almost anything for Jay, though his motives aren’t purely altruistic; Jay’s happiness and productivity translate to more earnings for everyone involved. However, Ron’s dedication goes further than a typical manager’s concern for a client. He truly cares, not just about Jay as a person, but also about Jay’s work, and will immediately prioritize Jay’s needs whenever he receives a call – usually from Jay’s assistant or publicist – when Jay is in trouble. This even extends to leaving his own family, including his wife Lois (played by Greta Gerwig, who is also Noah Baumbach’s wife in real life), to travel to Europe with Jay.

Ron reveals a more sensitive side of Sandler, a quality he often brings to projects with respected directors like Baumbach and James L. Brooks – it’s understated, gentle, and endearing, and here, it completely supports Clooney’s leading performance. (A related thought: when was the last time Adam Sandler played second fiddle in one of his films, as he does in Jay Kelly?) Sandler also delivers the most humorous moments in Jay Kelly, primarily through his character’s comical struggles to juggle work and family life.

The funny, realistic moments – like when Ron leaves Lois at home and the kids get sick, making everyone unhappy – are a refreshing change from Jay’s perfect idea of family life, the one he claims he longed for while earning millions and making hit movies. Of course, family is important. However, Ron’s scenes in Jay Kelly nicely show us that family life is often much more difficult than the dreamy visions of a wealthy, disconnected movie star. (The movie’s message about family becomes even more complex when Jay’s father, played by Stacy Keach, arrives at the film festival celebration.)

While George Clooney might not be detached from reality, he’s absolutely ideal in the role of Hollywood’s leading man. I spent several years doing interviews and covering red carpets for the Independent Film Channel. During that five-year stretch, I spoke with nearly every prominent actor and actress in Hollywood. And without a doubt, I can honestly say that George Clooney was the most captivating person I interviewed, regardless of gender. He wasn’t simply handsome; he possessed that rare, almost magical quality that defines a star. It genuinely felt like the atmosphere shifted whenever he entered a room.

Even though George Clooney often pursues directing and chooses roles that are different from what people expect, when he’s dressed sharply and his hair is done just right (and reportedly, his eyebrows are darkened with a Sharpie!), no one looks more like a classic movie star than he does. That side of him-the one that enjoys taking risks and making films about things like vintage football and troubled characters-actually helps him in Jay Kelly. In the film, his usual glamorous image slowly fades, showing the sadness beneath, and Clooney gets to move past his typically cheerful and confident persona.

Noah Baumbach consistently creates films that are both visually appealing and intellectually stimulating, and Jay Kelly is a perfect example. (The opening shot, a continuous take that skillfully introduces the characters and central ideas while touring the set of Jay’s newest film, is particularly noteworthy.) George Clooney and Adam Sandler have excellent chemistry, and the film features several strong performances from the supporting cast, with Billy Crudup standing out in the small but vital role of Tim, an old friend of Jay’s from his early acting days.

I was completely blown away by Crudup in his major scene – it’s when Tim does Jay a solid and demonstrates the acting techniques they both learned together back in class. It really hit me how Tim’s own life disappointments make him like a dark, Sliding Doors-esque version of Jay – just another way Baumbach explores the constant tension between our personal lives and careers in Jay Kelly. Honestly, the first part of the film just flies by, moving from one amazing moment to the next – a fantastic scene, an unbelievable monologue, a really insightful joke. It’s brilliantly paced.

Even so, as the film Jay Kelly continues, it pushes supporting storylines aside to focus more on Jay and his intense self-focus. This eventually becomes predictable, and even a bit draining to watch. Baumbach does offer some lighthearted criticism of Hollywood celebrities and their inflated egos and requests – Jay’s list of demands includes foods he doesn’t even enjoy – but the ending turns Jay Kelly’s blend of tragedy and comedy into something overly and excessively emotional. While I appreciated certain aspects of the movie, by the final scene, I found myself wondering: If films are ultimately meaningless, why am I still watching this one?

Jay Kelly will be performing at the New York Film Festival this week. The film will be released in cinemas on November 14th and will become available on Netflix starting December 5th.

RATING: 6/10

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2025-10-03 19:03