This year’s Austin Film Festival had programming stacked with movies that were generating buzz at other festivals. After receiving lots of positive feedback from the Venice International Film Festival and knowing it is a Noah Baumbach film, I knew I must attend the screening at AFF. Jay Kelly does not disappoint. Baumbach’s attention to story and character development is all too evident, and he features a character study akin to Ingmar Bergman’s Wild Strawberries, though with a slightly lighter, comedic tone. And the performances by both Clooney and Sandler do not falter. They are the main reasons this movie could resonate with mass audiences.
George Clooney stars as successful Hollywood actor Jay Kelly. Despite the success and acclaim he has accrued through his acting career, Kelly begins to recognize his inevitable mortality and takes stock of what is important to him and what should be more critical. His young daughter Daisy (Grace Edwards) has just graduated from high school and is about to take a European trip with her friends before beginning college in the fall. After finishing his latest movie, Jay decides, against Grace’s wishes, to follow her with his entourage, since he has been offered a special honor in Tuscanny. Throughout this trip, Jay Kelly reflects on his life and career, how he got to where he is, and how he became the man he is today.
Written and directed by Noah Baumbach and co-written by Emily Mortimer, Jay Kelly is a fascinating and compelling film. It is an often moving, but also very amusing character study that dissects the experiences of actors and the choices they frequently make to maintain their careers. Baumbach and Mortimer also skewer some of the more absurd aspects of success in entertainment and also offer some satire about the people and their choices in this field. It is funny, sometimes moving, and a telling examination of creative people desperate to maintain the high they get from their work, while also acknowledging the downside of success.
George Clooney is perfectly cast as Jay Kelly. The actor has achieved success and has faced some of the personal struggles his character deals with. He is often charming, almost always on as his pubic persona, but the movie also gives a more personal glimpse of a man struggling to keep it all together. Adam Sandler deserves much love for his sweet, compassionate turn as Kelly’s manager, Ron Sukenick, the man who admires Kelly’s talent but must also keep up with his sometimes chaotic employer while trying to balance his own issues.
Jay Kelly turned out to be one of my favorite films of this year’s Austin Film Festival and is a movie I highly recommend. It is currently playing in select theaters and is now available to stream on Netflix.