By John Corrado
Do you know how hard it is to be yourself?
That’s the quippy answer that George Clooney’s movie star character Jay Kelly, the titular protagonist of director Noah Baumbach’s latest film, gives when someone asks him what it feels like to be accused by critics of always playing himself.
Of course, Clooney in real life has also been accused of only playing himself onscreen (unfairly, in my opinion), and these meta layers to Baumbach’s Jay Kelly are apparent throughout. Jay Kelly is, for all intents and purposes, a version of Clooney; an effortlessly charming silver fox who became a movie star, but yearns to be taken more seriously as a dramatic actor.
But, what if this carefully honed persona is itself a sort of performance, as the film suggests? Working from a screenplay that he co-wrote with Emily Mortimer, Baumbach does a fine job of balancing this metatextual movie star narrative with what is by turns a tender and gently funny dramedy about the life of an aging actor, who is scared of being seen as an empty shell.
The film, which is beautifully shot by cinematographer Linus Sandgren, opens with a striking oner through a film set. Sandgren’s floating camera finally settles on Clooney’s Kelly as he delivers the final scene of his latest picture. He immediately asks for another take, to do the scene again, either striving for perfection or unable to let the role go.
Clooney’s Kelly is trying to rediscover his sense of purpose later in life when, as he laments, all of his “memories are movies.” He even muses about giving up acting, and dropping out of his next film. He’s going through a late-career crisis, spurred by the death of his filmmaking mentor Peter Schneider (Jim Broadbent), and the reappearance of Timothy (Billy Crudup), an old acting school classmate. Like so many of the familiar faces that appear throughout the film, Crudup gloriously makes the most of his few scenes, leaving his mark on the entire picture.
A series of events lead Jay Kelly to go on an impromptu trip to Europe. Kelly is set to receive a tribute award at a film festival in Tuscany, and drags along his publicist Liz (Laura Dern) and manager Ron Sukenick (Adam Sandler), who gets whisked away from his own family. If Jay Kelly is predominantly a star vehicle for Clooney, it also serves as a dramatic showcase for Sandler, who is a completely warm presence here as the loyal manager who is beginning to question if their friendship goes both ways.
The role itself allows Clooney to play off his suave, leading man persona, but also tap into his more emotional impulses as an actor. It’s up there with The Descendants and Up in the Air as one of his finest performances. For his part, Sandler plays into his likeable, feel-good persona, underscored by Ron’s own arc of beginning to question the relationships in his life and if he is being truly appreciated by his clients. Sandler is essentially playing the comic relief who also wants to be seen as something more, another meta touch.
Baumbach’s film is part travelogue, part hangout movie, and part inside Hollywood satire with knowing dialogue that is often focused on life in the industry (it seems specifically targeted at actors). But it’s rooted in examining the relationships between Clooney’s Kelly – who laments feeling lonely but is reminded by his teenaged daughter (Grace Edwards) that he is rarely actually alone, with Ron or others on his staff always around – and the various people in his life.
This allows Baumbach to play with a large ensemble cast of characters who come into the film at various points. The film unfolds through a series of vignettes and flashbacks, that bleed into the main narrative as Kelly remembers moments from his life and career. Baumbach brings a slippery, dreamlike quality to how he incorporates these flashbacks into the film, the present moment slipping away as Clooney’s character turns around to find himself back in the past. It’s all set to an exceptional musical score by Nicholas Britell that is at once playful and wistful.
The journey can feel a bit shaggy in places, and a few relationships like with Dern’s character could have been explored a little deeper. But Jay Kelly is always immensely enjoyable to watch unfold, with its collection of wonderful performances. The film ends on a deeply poignant note, with a lovingly crafted finale that delivers both the catharsis we want for this story, and as a meaningful ode to Clooney’s own movie star career. One of the year’s finest films.
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