Jay Kelly
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Famous movie actor Jay Kelly embarks on a journey of self-discovery, confronting both his past and present, accompanied by his devoted manager, Ron.
Famous movie actor Jay Kelly embarks on a journey of self-discovery, confronting both his past and present, accompanied by his devoted manager, Ron.
So Baumbach’s film pirouettes into territory already trodden by Fellini’s 8 1 / 2 and Woody Allen’s Stardust Memories, but smothers everything in a bland, Tuscan sunshine-syrup. The sharp realisations about the cruelty of show business are cancelled by gushes of Hollywood self-adoration and self-forgiveness and jokey non-comedy. Finally, Kelly watches a sizzle-reel of his roles at the festival ceremony, and of course these are clips of Clooney’s actual films (no ER though). It is an unbearable imposition on the audience’s affections, but there is a tear in Jay’s eye.
December 4, 2025. 6 min read. Jay kelly George Clooney Netflix Film Review. Noah Baumbach’s “Jay Kelly” is a study of a man in the middle of a personality crisis who worries that he doesn’t have one, only the personalities which fictional characters and the glory of celebrity have granted him. It’s a deeply meta film, a movie that uses as its foundation what we know of its star, George Clooney, one of the few leading men who can coexist in the same frame with images of legends like Paul Newman and Marcello Mastroianni and we don’t immediately reject the idea.
