Jay Kelly

by Julian Spivey

Photo: Netflix

Director: Noah Baumbach
Starring: George Clooney, Adam Sandler & Laura Dern
Rated: R (language)
Runtime: 2 hours & 12 minutes

 
Writer-director Noah Baumbach’s “Jay Kelly” is the story of a man who so badly wanted to become a legendary actor that he forgot essentially how to be anything else – a father, husband, friend.
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In one of his best career performances, George Clooney inhabits the role of the titular character, one who undoubtedly has accomplished his life goals and dream but finds himself wondering what it means when an old friend, one who played an essential role in making that dream a reality, dies, and he’s confronted by a character from his past who accuses him of stealing his life.

Clooney gives an excellent performance for sure in one that will likely garner him a Best Actor Oscar nomination, hitting all the emotional notes one would expect. Still, I’m not sure if the script by Baumbach and Emily Mortimer, who has a small role in the film as Kelly’s makeup artist, gives us enough backstory to explain why Clooney feels the way he does or enough emotional interest in why we should care about Clooney’s feelings, if we, in fact, should. I think there’s definitely a way one could watch “Jay Kelly” and not feel anything for Kelly or even view him as a villain in his story, and I believe that would be valid.

I’d like to know more about why Kelly wanted this life, more about how he wasn’t the father he should or could’ve been, etc., than Baumbach and Mortimer gave us.

I like Adam Sandler in his more serious roles, of which we seem to be getting more of over the last decade, and I think it’s great he can still mix the serious with the dumbly funny – with this coming out the same year as “Happy Gilmore 2.” At nearly 60, Sandler is clearly still one of the hardest-working men in the business between these films and his stand-up touring. Sandler’s business manager, Ron Sukenick, is all in on his clients, especially Jay Kelly, whom he will stop at nothing to help, even if it comes at the expense of his family life. Sandler’s performance, which is garnering some first Oscar nomination buzz – though I think he’ll ultimately fall short of that, finds him doing admirable, non-showy work as a man trying to be Jay Kelly’s friend in addition to that of manager, while trying to be a good husband and father, and also mixing an interesting storyline in with Laura Dern’s Liz, Jay Kelly’s publicist, in which they once had a romantic relationship that fizzled due to their individual loyalty to Kelly, which Liz is entirely over, while Ron is warring with the relationship.

I will say the decision to have Sandler’s character call all of those close to him, “puppy,” was a character decision that grated on me. I’m not sure a straight character can get away with that.

Billy Crudup is drawing buzz as Timothy Galligan, who was the star of Jay Kelly’s acting class in school, but lost out on a big audition to Kelly when he wouldn’t take Kelly’s good advice and played it safe. Timothy accuses Jay of stealing what should have been his life – and some might believe it to be true – but Timothy had his shot and blew it. Is it really Jay Kelly’s fault for capitalizing on it? I think Baumbach does a good job at leaving it up for interpretation.

What Baumbach does that I liked quite a bit about the film was the little flashback asides, where Kelly is clearly thinking about points in his life that were turning points and wondering whether or not he should have jumped off the train, like the time he did a film with an actress played by Eve Hewson, fell in love and then once the film was done they went their ways. With Hewson’s actress leaving the business, Jay Kelly was focused solely on superstardom.

The bones of Baumbach’s film are there. As one who’s never been the biggest fan of his movies (other than “Marriage Story”), I think “Jay Kelly’ is still one of his career highlights thanks to Clooney and some of the little things that flourish, but ultimately I needed to care more about Jay Kelly and those surrounding him for this to be something I’d want to return to or remember much about in the future.