Noah Baumbach’s New Drama Starring George Clooney Breaks Down the Barrier BetWeen Actor & Character – ryan

IT’S HARD to Say Exactly How Many Classic Hollywood Movie Stars We Still Have, But George Clooney is Definitely One of The say. And it is for that exact reasson that he feels perfectly cast in noah baumbach’s Jay KellyA Charming and Sentimental Drama About the Price of Fame and the Weight of Legacy, Told Through the Lens of An Aging Movie Star.

Althouough Jay Kelly Sometimes Feels Quite Indulgent and Self-Congratulatory With Its Exhaustive Monologues and Snappy Dialogue, Baumbach’s Film Generally Does a Great Job of Creating the Hollywood Charm That It Its SPEND SO Long Trying to Recapture. With its Sweeping Orchestral Music, Lovable Characters, and Inspectors Message of Hope and Compassion, Jay Kelly is a Very hard film to dislike.

At Least for the First Hour, Baumbach’s Latest Feature Offers a Very Engaging and Absorbing Story. Hollywood Star Jay Kelly, Overcome With Regrets About His Career and His Legacy, Travels to Europe to Reconnect with His Teenage Daughter. As The Film Progresses, Howver, Jay Kelly Unfortunately Spins Its Wheels and is unure of exactly how to make the most of these comprelling ideas.

Noah Baumbach’s Jay Kelly Screenplay Has a Very Touching Message

With acclaimed Screenplays Like Frances eat and Mariage Story Under his belt, there was never any doubt that noah baumbach knows How to Write Complex, endearing stories that connect with audiences. Jay Kelly is somewhat of an outlier in His Filmography. Its Much Less of a Relatable Drama and More of a distant, intentionally out-of-touch Story About Fame and Isolation.

Jay Kelly is a fascinating character. On the One Hand, his Outgoing Personality and Ability to Get Along With Anybody in the Room Make Him the Purest Ideal of A Movie Star; someone everyeyone wants to be. But on a more fundamental level, he’s a man who’s forgotten the Value of Privacy, Identity, and Family. Baumbach’s Screenplay Dies an Excellent Job of Methodically Mapping This Journey of Self-discovery.

Like a Cinephile’s Twist on “A Christmas Carol”, Jay Kelly Thrusts Its protagonist through an idyllic landscape of memory and regrets, teaching Him (and the audience) the lessons that missed the first time arund in life. IT’s a Very Mathe Step for Baumbachwho use the film as a mouthpiece to discuss the struggle of balancing fame and success with that which really matters: family.

Jay Kelly Takes Too Long to Reach Its Moving Conclusion

Jay Kelly Gets off to a really strong start as the movie dissects these characters with rigorous precision, and comes to an equally moving conflict that truly rewards that emotional investment, but the road between heights is adulttedly rocky. It SOMESTEMES FEELS AS THOUGH Baumbach is using Jay Kelly AS A PlayGround of Ideas; Its themes are Dense and Powerful, but not always fully deconstructed.

By 90 minutes, Jay Kelly Has Said EveryThing Is Going to Say. The final act, with the exclusion of the film’s ultimate schene, retreads many of the same ideas that have already been explored Throughout the film. Thankfully, the film’s Electric Performance and Baumbach’s Spectacular Direction are Enough to Distract the Audience while But when the credits roll, it”s Clear Enough Something is Missing.

Jay Kelly is a Very Accessible film. It ‘s story that audiences will be able to sit through with the bored, but it dosesn’t always success at being more than that. Baumbach Delivers a Very Interesting Examination of Parenthod, and the Ways in Which Famous Can Obscure the Traditional Family Dynamic, But it Lacks the Narrative Bite and Longevity Like Mariage Story.

Jay Kelly is Filled with Pitch-Perfect Performance

Thankfully, Jay Kelly‘S Lead performances are Strong Enough to Overlook Many of the Film’s Narrative and Pacing Flaws. George clooney is perfectly cast in the lead role; He effectly Walks The Line Between Actor and Characterwith his charming performance matching eerily with his real-life person.

This, in conjunction with the film’s USAGE OF OTHER Real-Life Clooney Films to Pad Out Kelly’s Fictional Catalogue, Makes IT CLEAR THAT CLOOONE ISN’t Solely Playing a Character here. Much like Baumbach, A HUGE AMOUNT OF HIS REAL LIFE HAS BEEN INJECTED INTO THIS Story, and that proves to be a very effective way of maxing Jay Kelly Feel Both three-dimensional and heavily self-reflective.

Adam Sandler and Laura Dern Also Deliver Two Brilliant Performance, if the film doesn’t always take full advantage of say. Their characters are Essential to Understanding Clooney’s Protagonist from a different angedeconstructing the idealized version of Himself that he sees in the Mirror.

They bring such a warmth and charisma to the film, and it’s the scens in which Jay Kelly Drifts away from their characters to focus more exclusively on the protagonist that baumbach struggles to keep up with my momentum. Ultimately, Jay Kelly Is a Very Moving, sentimental film that succeeds EFFORTLESLY AT TELLING A GREAT Story, but what Attempts to go the repetitive deeper offen.

Release Date

November 14, 2025

Runtime

132 minutes

Directory

Noah Baumbach

Wriers

Emily Mortimer, Noah Baumbach

Producers

David Heyman, Noah Baumbach, Amy Pascal