Jay Kelly. Jay Kelly. Clark Gable. Jay Kelly. Robert De Niro. Cary Grant. Jay Kelly.
George Clooney’s fictitious mega movie star says his own name in a moment of quiet reflection about halfway through Noah Baumbach’s intelligently drawn portrait of an actor who has, to some, been more of a symbol than a man. It’s not because he gives himself more importance–quite the opposite. Mr. Kelly wonders where he fits in with these titans of cinema or if he fits at all as he looks at himself in the mirror. Will he ever look at himself in the same way that other people look at him? Baumbach’s Jay Kelly is an exhileratingly smart and tender ride of introspection as the world is continously poised to speak his name with charged admiration.
As Jay Kelly wraps his latest film (I hear his pooch of a co-star steals the show), he receives word that his mentor and friend, Jim Broadbent’s Peter Schneider, has passed away. Peter is the man who gave Jay, in his twenties, his big break, and we enter a memory where Peter asks his friend if he will lend his support to making his next project. Jay declines multiple times as Peter makes Jay a sandwich in his own kitchen. After the funeral, he runs into Timothy, an acting class friend turned child therapist, played by Billy Crudup. Their meeting will force Jay to re-evaluate almost all of his personal relationships and make him wonder if he took too much from some while not giving back to almost all.
In two weeks, Jay is set to begin production on a new film with two promising, young director siblings at the helm, but he realizes that his daughter, Daisy, is going to Europe with her friends before college. He is already estranged from his eldest, played by Riley Keough, and he tells Ron and Liz, played by a never-better, subtle Adam Sandler and an exasperated Laura Dern, that he’s going to fly to Paris to meet up with Daisy even though she has no idea about his plans. As his manager and publicist, Ron and Liz have been there from the beginning with Ron likening their relationship to a close friendship while Liz tries to help Ron realize that it’s a working partnership. With Jay’s entire team in tow, they board a private plane to Europe, his entire itinerary an act in improv and his upcoming filming schedule schedule in jeopardy. Megawatt stars cannot have spontaeous whims without fucking up all the schedules and plans the for individuals who take care of them behind the scenes.
Jay Kelly is Adam Sandler’s finest hour, and Ron feels like a man whose loyalty majorly counts towards his affection. Ron and Liz are the only two who constantly call Jay just by his first name–while everyone else mostly uses first and last–but he might not even know how much he puts his oldest client first in his life. He leaves family functions early, but his family recognizes his dedication and love for Jay, even if they seem to come second at times. Ron assumes that Jay would do the same for him. Sandler builds on Ron’s weariness in a way that he hasn’t had the opportunity to in his career. Sandler and Baumbach and unlikely winning duo.
There is a constant twinkle in Jay’s eye, not unlike Clooney’s own charismatic spark, but the more you watch Baumbach’s film, the more you may notice that Jay uses his trademark grin in various ways. He smiles when he is uncomfortable, as a defense mechanism and when he feels genuine curiosity. His face might even drop down to hide it as he feels embarrassment or is confronted. When he was younger, Jay chased that hunger to be an actor and to be famous, and Baumbach’s film explores if there is any way to escape the guilt you feel for the things and people you sacrificed to make your dreams come true. Can you repay those debts, or are the scars too deep to heal? The question of “playing yourself” is brought up throughout the film as to assume that Mr. Kelly’s job isn’t that difficult when he always counters with the question, ‘Do you know how hard it is to play yourself?’ This inquiry has been launched at Clooney throughout his career, but this is the most emotionally bare he’s ever been.
Maybe Jay Kelly, the man, doesn’t realize how much he runs from things. This journey towards responsibility and some self-love is one that blurs the line between fantasy and reality for the character but also for us as we watch Clooney. Before his big tribute, Jay stumbles on a large picture of himself hanging in an Italian village square as a party is at the beginning stages of a rage. So many people look up at Mr. Kelly like that. They see the charisma, the poise, the energy–the privilege to be famous. They love him for it. They love how his movies and his performances make them feel. Maybe Jay Kelly will stop running away from things, and he will find something to run towards.
Jay Kelly is in select theaters now. It debuts exclusively on Netflix on December 5.
