Movie Review: ‘Jay Kelly’ In Limited Theaters And On Netflix December 5th

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Review by James Lindorf

From “Singin’ in the Rain” and “Sunset Boulevard” in the ‘50s to “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” and “Babylon,” Hollywood has never been shy about examining its process and importance. Academy Award nominee Noah Baumbach is the latest director to take on the subject in his fourth film for Netflix. “Jay Kelly” will have a limited theatrical run starting November 14th before heading home to the streaming service on December 5th.

Jay Kelly (George Clooney) is a Hollywood icon as well as an ex-husband, a disconnected father, and an estranged son. While he claims to be alone, Jay is surrounded by his security team, stylist, Liz (Laura Dern), his long-term publicist, and his devoted manager, Ron (Adam Sandler). After wrapping up the final scene of the final film in a popular franchise, Jay is ready to spend some time with his youngest daughter, Daisy (Grace Edwards), but is quickly foiled when she reveals the plans for a European vacation. Things go from bad to worse with the passing of Peter Schneider (Jim Broadbent), the director and longtime friend who gave Jay his big break, and the reappearance of Timothy (Billy Crudup), an old acting school friend. On the verge of a total breakdown, Jay, Ron, and the rest of the team embark on a whirlwind journey through Europe to meet up with Daisy under the guise of attending an honorary career achievement award at a film festival in Tuscany.

“Jay Kelly” is a beautiful film from the underlit dive bar to the Tuscan countryside with Baumbach and Oscar-winning Cinematographer Linus Sandgren at the helm. “Jay Kelly” excels during flashbacks in every way, from the color scheme to the lighting to the blocking. I was more intrigued by how they were going to move him about the scene than I was by Jay’s story. There are multiple flashbacks, but two stand out for their quality or lack thereof. In a moment with a much younger Jay, we see him in an acting class and going to his first audition with Timothy. It is a defining moment for both of them as the previously uninvited Jay lands the role by using advice that Tim was too afraid to take. It is the first moment where we see him put fame over his relationships.

In another, we are taken back to his first sex scene. Which happens with his first affair partner, and for the first movie that made one of his children wonder why they didn’t have the dad they see on TV. Which sounds like a pivotal moment for the character, but instead of letting us experience it, Clooney talks over it almost non-stop, dulling its impact. All of these scenes look great; unfortunately, it is a shallow beauty that does very little to enhance the emotions of the flashbacks. To be fair, the emotions in the present-day scenes are also heavily muted. Emmy-winning composer Nicholas Britell and his gentle underscoring do their best to drive the nonexistent feelings home, but come up short.

The moments where you actually feel for anyone on screen is when it is one of the supporting characters. They are playing the seldom-thought-about, often-overlooked people who prop up our cinematic heroes, like Jay, as they move through life, disconnected from the rest of us. Part of it feels like an intentional choice for Baumbach and co-writer Emily Mortimer to give them these moments, but it also feels like a happy accident when compared to what they are doing with Clooney. This is particularly evident with Sandler and Dern, who have an incredible scene together about what could have been different if they hadn’t let Jay Kelly rule their lives. Sandler also has good scenes with Clooney, Greta Gerwig, who plays his wife, and Patrick Wilson, who plays Ron’s other client in Tuscany, to receive a lifetime achievement award that may or may not have been previously set up for Kelly.

Off the silver screen, legendary actor Jay Kelly is a failure. He is a bad husband, father, friend, and boss, and he is just now realizing it. All of that, coupled with the death of a father figure, should be soul-crushing, and while Jay is a bit erratic, he never feels very broken in the middle of his breakdown. It feels largely performative, not a forced unburdening of his guilt and grief. “Jay Kelly” has strengths in every aspect of filmmaking. Still, when the main character doesn’t make me believe he cares about the subject, I have to ask why I should care, and for that, “Jay Kelly” earns a 3 out of 5.

Rating: R (Language)
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Release Date (Limited Theatrical): November 14th, 2025
Release Date (Streaming): December 5th, 2025
Runtime: 2h 12m
Director: Noah Baumbach
Producer: Noah Baumbach, David Heyman, Amy Pascal
Screenwriter Noah Baumbach, Emily Mortimer
Distributor: Netflix
Production Co: Heyday Films