Jay Kelly (dir. Noah Baumbach)

by Jack Martin | Dec 5, 2025

Certificate: 15

Running Time: 132 mins

UK Distributor: Netflix

UK Release Date: 5 December 2025

WHO’S IN JAY KELLY?

George Clooney, Adam Sandler, Laura Dern, Billy Crudup, Riley Keough, Grace Edwards, Stacy Keach, Jim Broadbent, Patrick Wilson, Eve Hewson, Greta Gerwig, Alba Rohrwacher, John Hamilton, Lenny Henry, Emily Mortimer, Nicôle Lecky, Thaddea Graham, Isla Fisher, Jamie Demetriou, Louis Partridge, Charlie Rowe, Parker Sawyers, Patsy Ferran, Lars Eidinger, Kyle Soller, Tom Francis, Giovanni Esposito

WHO’S BEHIND THE CAMERA?

Noah Baumbach (director, writer, producer), Emily Mortimer (writer), David Heyman and Amy Pascal (producers), Nicholas Britell (composer), Linus Sandgren (cinematographer), Valerio Bonelli and Rachel Durance (editor)

WHAT’S IT ABOUT?

A famous actor (Clooney) and his loyal manager (Sandler) embark on a tender journey…

WHAT ARE MY THOUGHTS ON JAY KELLY?

In Jay Kelly, which is probably my new favourite Noah Baumbach movie, George Clooney takes on the most challenging role of his career: George Clooney.

Or at least, a thinly veiled version of George Clooney, for although the titular character whom he portrays is clearly drawn from the Oscar-winning actor’s career (to where, when it shows a montage of the fictional Jay Kelly’s work, it’s just clips from Clooney’s actual filmography), both personas could not be more radically different. What they share, though, is the sunbeam of A-list movie stardom that they bask in, relying on easy charisma and good looks to guide viewers along a journey that you might not otherwise be comfortable taking, one of many things that director and co-writer Baumbach keeps in mind during his excellent dissection of what it takes, and what must be sacrificed, to maintain that stardom.

Much like Clooney himself, Jay Kelly is a world-famous movie star with the world constantly awed by his mere presence, but (hopefully) unlike Clooney he’s kind of a mess behind the veil: egotistical, overly spontaneous, inconsiderate to the feelings and opinions of others, even his long-suffering manager Ron (Adam Sandler) who despite enduring all his flaws remains fiercely loyal to his client. Kelly soon enters a personal crisis when a chance encounter with former acting buddy Timothy (Billy Crudup, shining in the limited amount of screen time he has) prompts him to drop out of a lucrative new movie and head to Europe to follow his teenage daughter Daisy (Grace Edwards) on a trip with friends, with his entourage including Ron and publicist Liz (Laura Dern) in tow, all under the pretence of receiving a legacy award at a festival in Italy. Along the way, Kelly takes moments to reflect on his life choices that led to him becoming who he is, while Ron weighs his own responsibilities to his high-maintenance client and his own family.

Baumbach, who co-wrote the script with Emily Mortimer (who also has a small role in the film as a member of Kelly’s team), presents a portrait of a movie star that is certainly glamorous and heavily romanticised, but not once does it feel phoney or smug. Instead, the filmmaker uses that romanticisation as a weapon, luring us into the world of Jay Kelly with his alluring presence and natural charisma, only to then pull the rug on us as we see how this man is not just deeply flawed, but sometimes irredeemably so, especially when we see how he effectively screwed certain people over to get where he is in the present, be it aging film directors or even his own family. Kelly’s life is empty as a result, surrounded by sycophants and adoring fans but very few people with whom he doesn’t have some sort of transactional relationship.

The closest he has to a true friend is Sandler’s Ron, and even he gets the short straw time and time again by a guy whose narcissism won’t allow him to comprehend that Ron, arguably more so than even him, has a lot of stuff going on. When Kelly summons him on his spontaneous European trek, Ron is about to serve the match point in a tennis tournament with his daughter, leaving his wife Lois (Greta Gerwig) to deal with their ailments and allergies while he accompanies a client who gives him nothing in return for all the hard work he does behind the scenes. Sandler, playing one of his greatest characters as a dramatic actor, is nothing short of extraordinary as he conveys the eternal burnt-out nature of someone who has dedicated his life to someone like Jay Kelly, yet is in real danger of losing the stabler life he has built for himself as his client’s demands exceed that of his own.

There’s a lot going on underneath the surface of Jay Kelly, much of it having to do with the whirlwind nature of his central character’s personality, and Baumbach taps into his bouncier side as a director to show all of that. Like a modern day Christmas Carol, Kelly is haunted by sudden visions from his past, conveyed with old-fashioned moviemaking magic that sees Baumbach play around with sets and cinematography to transition near-seamlessly from one point in time to another, and there’s a real wonder in watching it all come together in ways that are both passionate and deeply emotional. As characters come and go, you see in their short appearances how their lives have been affected by the selfishness and inconsiderate tendencies of someone that always receives but never gives back, and Baumbach directs his actors in such an open and gentle way that they are able to show their internal pain and suffering from the sidelines, even as Jay Kelly himself hogs the spotlight.

It’s a beautifully composed film, literally in the case of Nicholas Britell whose pleasant score helps the energy of scenes remain afloat, while Linus Sandgren’s cinematography radiates with colour in ways that make everything from the pristine European landscapes to a dark and artificial movie set feel alive. Above all, it’s a movie that loves movies, specifically the people that work to the bone in order to make them a reality and rarely get the credit they deserve, so it’s little wonder why I loved Jay Kelly as much as I did, since it captures everything you’d want from an in-depth study of stardom while avoiding the feeling that you’ve seen such a film many times over.

SO, TO SUM UP…

Jay Kelly is a wonderful character study and celebration of the personalities behind the camera, good or bad, with filmmaker Noah Baumbach at the top of his game while getting some career-high performances out of the likes of George Clooney, who revels in playing a thinly veiled version of himself, and especially a never-better Adam Sandler.