DUBAI: Noah Baumbach’s “Jay Kelly” is a movie that both celebrates and castigates Hollywood and its trappings. George Clooney plays the eponymous lead character, who’s hailed as the last true movie star, a throwback to the glamour of old-school Tinsel Town. Not a huge stretch for George.
Kelly is also a monster created by celebrity, money, and the entourage who strive to meet his every demand and constantly stroke his fragile-as-paper ego.
The movie finds him at a crossroads, his star waning. He’s just wrapped a film and hopes to spend a fortnight with his youngest daughter, Daisy, before she heads off to college. Two weeks, we learn, is pretty much the longest time they’d have spent together in Daisy’s life, so busy has Kelly been building and maintaining his stardom. Family has always come a distant second. As has friendship. Although, as Daisy notes, Kelly is never alone, he’s also got no one around him whom he doesn’t actually pay to be there.
But Daisy tells Kelly that she’s heading to Europe for the summer with friends. Desperate to connect (or, at least, to feel like he’s done some kind of parenting) he decides to blow off his upcoming shoot and head to Europe after her, justifying the trip by accepting a tribute offered by an Italian film festival. He’s accompanied, unwillingly, by his manager, Ron (Adam Sandler) — once again having to ditch his own family to tend to Kelly’s needs. There are other minions too, but eventually they drift away to attend to their own lives, leaving just Ron. Even Kelly’s estranged — and unpleasant — father can’t bring himself to stay in Italy long enough to actually watch his son’s tribute.
Ultimately, Kelly is forced to evaluate the choices he’s made and the goals he’s set (whether he actually recalibrates is debatable). The big question: Was it worth it?
Clooney is excellent as Kelly — a convincing mix of ultra-confidence and insecurity; of devil-may-care bravado and grating neediness; of good-guy charisma and tone-deaf callousness. And Sandler is a great foil, a worn-out husk of a man, stretched to his limits but trying to convince himself that Kelly is worth all the stress.
“Jay Kelly” won’t be for everyone; it’s a slow-burn with no great theatrics. But as an examination of the cost of celebrity — and the cost of the desire for celebrity — this is wonderfully acted, wonderfully shot work.
