On the ground in Venice, Shane McKevitt sets the scene in his review of Jay Kelly.
Noah Baumbach opened the 2022 Venice International Film Festival with the absurdist dramedy White Noise. He returns this year with Jay Kelly, which follows George Clooney as the titular character, an ageing A-lister in the twilight of his career. It opens with a gorgeous, sweeping shot of a film set, wherein Jay delivers the final lines of an urban noir, his character having been shot in the gut. When the director calls “cut”, Jay asks for one more take. Soon, Jay wishes he could do the same for his real life, where the wounds are all too real.
When Jay bumps into an old friend from acting class (Billy Crudup), who accuses him of playing dirty tricks on the path to success, he has a crisis of conscience. Reality dawns on Jay: he doesn’t have any friends who don’t work for him, he divorced years ago, and neither of his daughters seem to want much to do with him. This forces Jay to reconsider how his single-minded professional pursuits shaped his life and the relationships therein.
Jay’s longtime manager, Ron (Adam Sandler), and publicist, Liz (Laura Dern), are shocked when he cancels his next film project, opting instead for an impromptu trip to central Italy, during which he attempts to heal the wounds of the past.
Clooney is, unsurprisingly, excellent in a role where he’s essentially playing himself. He and Sandler have a witty repartee that gets things off to an entertaining start. Likewise, the film strikes a fuzzy, humorous tone that complements all parties involved.
Once Jay and company embark on their transatlantic trip, the film pushes and pulls between various characters and subplots, all of which circle back to Jay and the effect he’s had on people’s lives. The relationship between him and his eldest daughter, Jessica (Riley Keough), is probably the film’s strongest point. There are two lengthy scenes between the pair, the latter of which works particularly well, packing the required emotional punch.
The film also shifts from Ron and Liz reflecting on their professional “friendship” with Jay, his youngest daughter (Grace Edwards) having second thoughts about college, and countless other plot threads introduced and dropped rather abruptly. This makes the film's central conceit, that of Jay’s midlife crisis, fall to the wayside in parts. His characterisation also feels ill-defined: one moment he’s happily signing autographs, the next he’s having contemplative flashbacks to his past failings. Ultimately, this prevents the film from ending on a satisfying note.
Patrick Wilson plays a fellow actor, one of Ron’s lesser clients, who brings his family along on work trips and talks about running career decisions by his wife. He’s led a healthy, happy life as a family man, despite his success in entertainment. He’s what Jay could have been, but wasn’t. It’s a fascinating dichotomy, one I wish had been expanded on in favour of other plot threads.
Baumbach’s first film, Kicking and Screaming (1995), followed a group of sardonic twenty-somethings whose interactions and relationships played off each other perfectly, building toward natural, satisfying conclusions for each of their arcs. It’s that type of synergy I wished for with Jay Kelly; the puzzle pieces just don’t fit. Clooney gives a convincing performance, but the narrative is pulled in too many different directions.
Jay Kelly premiered at the 82nd Venice International Film Festival on 28th August 2025.