A One Mann’s Movies review of “Jay Kelly” (From the 2025 London Film Festival). (2025, 3.5*, ’15’).
I sat next to a lady from the industry at this screening who stated that “big movie stars” were a thing of the past. But I disagree. I think if George Clooney (or Julia Robert or Brad Pitt or Harrison Ford) walked down the corridor of a crowded French train, then everyone would go nuts as happens in this film. For George Clooney (or “my friend George” as I always call him, after “The Boys in the Boat“!) IS a real movie star. And, as (a very good) Lennie Henry as his acting teacher says in this film, it’s hellish difficult to play yourself!
One Mann’s Movies Rating:
Plot:
Jay Kelly (George Clooney) is a famous movie star who’s best years are perhaps now behind him. His box office numbers are starting to decline and he is being invited to attend functions for ‘lifetime achievement awards’. But in looking back on his career, he can’t but help regret the mistakes he’s made with the relationships he’s formed along the way.
Certification:
UK: NR; US: R. (The film has not yet been rated by the BBFC but I would expect it to be a 15 for the language.)
Talent:
Starring: George Clooney, Adam Sandler, Laura Dern, Billy Crudup, Patrick Wilson, Emily Mortimer, Riley Keough, Grace Edwards, Isla Fisher, Greta Gerwig, Jim Broadbent, Stacy Keach, Jamie Demetriou, Patsy Ferran, Lenny Henry, Alba Rohrwacher.
Directed by: Noah Baumbach.
Written by: Noah Baumbach & Emily Mortimer.
Running Time: 2h 12m.
Summary:
Positives:
- Clooney’s star presence is magnificent and Sandler delivers a strong supporting turn.
- The script delivers some great lines.
Negatives:
- The film is rather over-stacked with sub-stories.
- Some of the cast, especially Laura Dern, are underused.
Full Review of “Jay Kelly”:
Good fun while I was watching it.
This is one of those films that I enjoyed watching while I was watching it (4 stars), but then seems to deflate somewhat as I think back on it. It’s a glossy production, as you would expect from a Netflix-funding movie about a top movie star. But the story never quite seems to stick to its central focus on Jay Kelly himself. We are constantly distracted by the tales of those around them, whether it’s his agent Ron (Adam Sandler) trying to juggle the demands of Jay and his other main client, Ben Alcock (LOL) (Patrick Wilson), or his increasingly disgruntled PA Liz (Laura Dern, who feel woefully underused).
As a result, we don’t really get under the skin of his past marriages and only subliminally bounce off the lives of his partially estranged children: the eldest Jessica (Riley Keough) working as a teacher in California holds a grudge with her father who was never there for her (she calls him an “empty vessel”); and Daily (Grace Edwards), is about to go off to college but travelling in Europe and wants to (unsuccessfully) distance herself from her famous father.
George is good value.
Clooney looks like your archetypal good looking, square jawed movie star. Put him in an all-white suit or a dinner jacket an he looks like he could be a US President one day. (A line in the film is “Would you ever run for President? A great question!). At one point he is having his eyebrows darkened with a marker pen before looking at himself in the mirror with a “Yep, still got it” look.
Jay’s world is rocked when his old producing friend Peter Schneider (Jay Kelly) dies, pretty well penniless, and he perhaps seeing his own declining future if he carries on in the business and chases an ever diminishing dream. He is also shaken up (a bit more physically) when at Schneider’s funeral he meets an old acting buddy, Timothy (Billy Crudup), who still holds a grudge against Kelly. This is one of the most entertaining strands of the film, but it pretty well dried up within 30 minutes, which was a shame.
There is a neat moment in the film where at a party a lady quizzes Jay “Where do you know me from?”. As I rehearsed my “Boys in the Boat” scene with Clooney himself, I would love to get to meet him one day at a function or a premiere and re-enact that scene!!
Sandler.
Adam Sandler is also good in a supporting role as the increasingly stressed manager. Sandler is in more serious acting mode here, although there is a little twinkle of comedy in his performance too. He also managed to evoke the most emotion from me in the whole movie, thanks to a hand-holding moment in the finale.
Nice flashbacks.
Where the film works nicely is in flashing back to earlier times in Jay Kelly’s life: that fateful audition scene; a performance by his two daughters; etc. They are moments of regret in his life and I wanted more of those linked to a somewhat simpler modern day storyline.
In the present day, there is also a nice sequence onboard a French train, which reminded me a bit of Winston’s tube ride in “The Darkest Hour“! When Ron and Liz protest about him going into a public 2nd class carriage, Jay protests “How can I play people when I can’t meet people?”. The camera lovingly watches Jay just watching common people engaged in their train discussions. That is, until everyone realises who it is!
The train journey also gives us a rather odd sidestep into heroics, that gives Clooney a chance to rehash his comedy running from “The Descendants” but didn’t sit terribly well with the flow of the film.
Summary Thoughts:
Jay Kelly is a decent film and I think most people will enjoy it as a night out at the cinema. But it seems far from a perfect film. It might pick up a few Oscar nominations because the Academy love a bit of industry navel-gazing, but I doubt it will make a big splash.
The last remaining London Film Festival showing on 19th October is currently sold out, but here is the booking web site to check for returns or other showings. Else it will be released to UK cinemas on in cinemas on 14th November and then onto Netflix on 5th December 2025.
Where to watch?
Trailer:
A teaser trailer for the film is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8GbcVkqZwQ.
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