By Bob Grimm
Jay Kelly, a somewhat satirical look at the life of an aging movie star (George Clooney), comes to us from writer-director Noah Baumbach—which suggests that it may be a brutal look at life in the limelight.
Instead, it’s mostly a pleasant take on a guy looking back on his life and wondering if he’s made all the right choices. It doesn’t really offer anything all that new, but with a top-notch Clooney as the title character and, especially, Adam Sandler as Ron, as his worn-out manager, it’s a good time at the movies (or, more accurately, on Netflix, presuming you missed its brief theatrical run).
More than three decades into his movie career, Jay is feeling a bit lonely. His children find him amusing but don’t take him all that seriously, and he’s paying the price for his career-first attitude. When one of his daughters sets off on a European trek, he chooses to follow her and eventually winds up in Italy for a career tribute in which he reluctantly takes part.
This is all staging for Clooney and Sandler to spend a lot of time together on trains and running around Italy (something Clooney notoriously does in real life). They are a good screen pair, with Clooney more or less playing himself, and Sandler showing yet again that he is much more than Happy Gilmore. Both received Golden Globe noms for their work here, and those noms are deserved.
Yet when the film wraps, it feels a bit like a missed opportunity. It feels a little too nice and safe—a surprise, considering the usually daring Baumbach is at the helm.
Jay Kelly won’t leave you feeling like you’ve wasted your time. It just doesn’t have much to it beyond two solid performances.
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