Writer-director Noah Baumbach continues his streak of Netflix films, following Marriage Story (2019) and White Noise (2022), with a sweeping and introspective dramedy led by George Clooney. In many ways, Jay Kelly (2025) feels like a story that Baumbach was destined to tell. His output across the years, from The Squid and the Whale (2005) to Frances Ha (2012), appears to have been great practice for what he masterfully pulls off here. Jay Kelly boasts the filmmaker’s usual wit and sensibilities, but with an added touch of sentimentality that makes it irresistibly endearing.
The film opens with a remarkable one-take sequence as famous movie actor Jay Kelly (Clooney) delivers the final take on his latest picture. We are introduced to Kelly’s entourage, which includes his devoted manager Ron Sukenick (Adam Sandler) and his committed publicist Liz (Laura Dern), among a few others. Jay is a bona fide A-list star, perhaps the last one in Hollywood. He can’t travel by public transport, eat at restaurants, or go alone to bars, so he opts for a life of solitude, despite being constantly surrounded by people.
Hollywood Fame Can’t Make Up For Lost Time
Jay’s chaotic routine is upended after Ron delivers the shocking news that the director who originally gave him his big break, Peter Schneider (Jim Broadbent), has died. Following the funeral, the past comes to haunt Jay as his old friend and fellow actor Timothy (Billy Crudup) shows up. The two initially hit it off as they hang out over drinks carefree, but it turns out Timothy resents Jay for taking the role that put him on the map. Timothy succumbs to a bitterness he has carried for decades and gets into a hilarious fistfight with the aging movie star. More than the physical damage done, Timothy’s truthful and blunt words haunt Jay, “Is there a person in there?”
The bitter confrontation with Timothy inspires Jay to reconnect with his two estranged daughters. He hastily decides to pack his things and follow his youngest daughter, Daisy (Grace Edwards), who is travelling across Europe before college starts in the fall. They land in France for a jazz festival before heading towards Italy. Jay’s presence on a rickety Italian train is a shock to everyone on board, as he mixes with ordinary folk for the first time in years. Daisy, of course, isn’t too pleased with his intrusion. He struggles even more with reaching out to his eldest daughter. Now a teacher in the States, she felt the most neglected due to the prioritization of his acting career.
Jay Kelly Feels Like a Culmination of Noah Baumbach’s Directorial Work
The majority of Jay Kelly‘s plot is told through memories, and Noah Baumbach’s script finds a sleek, surrealist way of making his characters literally walk into them. Jay steps into the past as he observes key moments in his life, such as auditioning for his first role, acting alongside and falling in love with his future wife, and bonding with his daughters in their youth. These memories give viewers insight into how Kelly’s esteemed fame led him to be an absent father. The movie magic on display is simple, yet extremely effective.
One standout scene features Riley Keough (Daisy Jones & The Six) as Jessica Kelly, Jay’s eldest daughter, talking to him over the phone. As the conversation starts, she steps out behind a tree in the Italian forest that Jay is calling from. It makes an already deeply intimate moment more powerful as they physically interact, although she’s not really there. Tender, imaginative moments like these are what make Baumbach’s latest so special.
Courtesy of Netflix
While Baumbach has certainly drawn from his life experiences before as a storyteller, Jay Kelly feels especially personal as the narrative goes full meta. He even gives himself a not-so-subtle cameo as he directs Jay on a film set. It’s almost as if Baumbach is questioning his own artistic legacy, but is channeling it through Jay as he wrestles with how his career pushed him far from his family. Jay says, “All my memories are movies.” In this way, Baumbach injects how he sees the past, remembering events in his life in relation to the films he made in those particular years.
George Clooney Leads An All-Star Ensemble
Jay Kelly boasts a spectacular cast, wherein each actor brings their own unique flavor to the table. Greta Gerwig (Barbie) returns in a small but memorable role as she delivers some of the movie’s biggest laughs. Fellow Baumbach alums Laura Dern and Adam Sandler are pivotal to the ensemble, with Sandler giving one of his most honest performances to date. He, too, runs away with his fair share of laughs. Yet, his turnout here is a fine addition to his dramatic work in Uncut Gems (2019), Hustle (2022), and Punch-Drunk Love (2002). Meanwhile, Dern adds to the chaotic opening act, as she constantly chats on the phone by Jay and Ron’s side, like an echo in their ear.
Courtesy of Netflix
Naturally, one would expect the titular role of a massive Hollywood star to be right up George Clooney’s alley. Coming after Wolfs (2024) and his recent directorial effort, The Boys in the Boat (2023), Clooney delivers an utterly charming and sincere performance as Jay Kelly. However, his smooth-talking talents don’t overshadow the vulnerability and fragility he has to convey as Kelly reminisces and confronts his regretful choices in life. He fully convinces the audience that only he could have pulled off this role to this effortless degree. Jay Kelly can be viewed as a tribute to Clooney himself, celebrating the iconic actor while still giving him a window to recontextualize his own movie-making career with integrity.
Cinema Paradiso is Echoed in Jay Kelly’s Tearful Ending
Swedish cinematographer Linus Sandgren, best known for La La Land (2016), No Time to Die (2021), and the upcoming Dune: Part Three, teams up with Noah Baumbach for the first time in Jay Kelly. The duo expertly utilizes a slew of visual tricks, from meticulous staging and head-turning camerawork to an eye-pleasing color palette. The general look of the film is quite stunning, and just like its characters, the shots are suave and sophisticated. Additionally, the award-winning Nicholas Britell (HBO’s Succession) scores the movie with echoes of Randy Newman and Baumbach’s past collaborators, creating a nostalgic sound that fits perfectly into Baumbach’s themes.
Certain lines stay in your head beyond the film’s final frame, like, “It’s much easier to be somebody else than nobody else.” However, the most impactful line is the last that Clooney utters: “Can we go again?” This beautifully melancholic moment caps off an incredible ending for Jay Kelly, in which the protagonist watches a tribute to himself in a packed theater. It’s a tearful scene that reads as a cinematic ode to Clooney. The soaring heights of Cinema Paradiso (1988) and Babylon (2022) fill the spectator’s mind as Jay realizes there are no re-does in life, unlike in the movies.
Jay Kelly premiered at the 2025 Venice Film Festival! The movie will be released in select theaters on November 14 and will then be available on Netflix starting December 5.
Directed by Noah Baumbach.
Written by Noah Baumbach & Emily Mortimer.
Produced by Noah Baumbach, Amy Pascal, & David Heyman.
Executive Producer: Donald Sabourin.
Main Cast: George Clooney, Adam Sandler, Laura Dern, Billy Crudup, Riley Keough, Grace Edwards, Stacy Keach, Jim Broadbent, Patrick Wilson, Eve Hewson, Greta Gerwig, Alba Rohrwacher, Josh Hamilton, Lenny Henry, Emily Mortimer, Nicôle Lecky, Thaddea Graham, Isla Fisher, Jamie Demetriou, Louis Partridge, Charlie Rowe, Parker Sawyers, Patsy Ferran, Lars Eidinger, Kyle Soller, Tom Francis, & Giovanni Esposito.
Cinematographer: Linus Sandgren.
Composer: Nicholas Britell.
Production Companies: Pascal Pictures, Heyday Films, & NBGG Pictures.
Distributor: Netflix.
Runtime: 132 minutes.
Rated R.
