An Actor Ponders: My Quick Review of Noah Baumbach's JAY KELLY

When I think of the works of Noah Baumbach, my mind always goes towards scrappier indies like The Squid & the Whale or Frances Ha...and even if it may have had a bigger budget, Marriage Story fit right in line with the kinds of themes he often tackles. 

His last film, 2022's White Noise, which was based on a Don DeLillo novel, was a bigger scale departure for him that had a lot of people scratching their heads...even though I actually liked it quite a bit. 

Now that we've reached his latest effort, Jay Kelly, I feel like we have him diving back into a territory that seems more on brand for him, but the scale still seems a lot bigger. I keep talking about "the scale" and perhaps it may seem like I am on the brink of insulting his path of branching out to films that are not of his old indie vibe.

If there is any issue with Jay Kelly, it isn't the budget but rather not necessarily responding much to the script...but I am getting ahead of myself.

George Clooney plays our titular character, an actor who has been very beloved by the public for decades and he is reaching something of a breaking point when director Peter Schneider (Jim Broadbent), who gave him his first big break back in the 1980s, passes away. On top of this, he also struggles with the fact his youngest daughter is now 18 and preparing to go off to college. Considering he was always busy with work (something that affected his relationship with his eldest daughter a lot more), he is feeling a bit concerned about losing her without getting to connect with her.

After Peter's memorial, Jay has an encounter with Tim Galligan (Billy Crudup), a former friend he went to the same acting class with. While at a bar, Tim expresses an opinion about their past that leads Jay to finally spiral. Despite a film shoot beginning just around the bend, he insists to his loyal longtime manager Ron (Adam Sandler) and his publicist Liz (Laura Dern) that he is going on an excursion to Europe to try to connect with his daughter Daisy, who is going on a backpacking trip there before going off to college. 

Jay Kelly is the kind of film that feels like something that might've been more embraced had it come out 20+ years ago, but it does seem to be getting less of a positive response than many hoped for. I would say that I am definitely mixed on the final product. 

I viewed Jay Kelly as Noah Baumbach's (and co-writer Emily Mortimer's) modernish take on a Fellini film. While this film was nowhere near as surreal or exuberant as the work of Federico Fellini, I single out the legend because was a master at creating films around tortured souls (frequently artists) who were in the midst of a crisis. 

I certainly see elements of 8 1/2 and La Dolce Vita here, but I have to stress that I am not putting Jay Kelly on that level. As a script, I don't know if I truly got enough out of Jay's history to actually GET him or, frankly, even care. On top of that, we get Sandler's Ron having an arc as well which I would argue is maybe a tad more effective...but on the flip side, they do try to create a past between Sandler's Ron and Dern's Liz, but I am honestly amazed at how underutilized Laura Dern is in this film. She barely gets anything to do and when her character departs the narrative, I was like "Wait...is that it? Is she coming back?"

We do get to be witness to several flashbacks from Jay's life, with Jay watching them and relieving the happy times and also the difficult ones. To be fair, a lot of these are very well done and it must be said that this is film that does have fleeting moments of being truly engaging but for the most part, the interest level mostly remained at a level of mild interest. 

If I can commend the film for anything, it is the fact that an actor like George Clooney is the perfect choice to play our lead because he IS that beloved. He IS that charismatic. He IS someone who lights up the screen in a way very few actors can. I am not saying I would nominate him for an Oscar, but if the film has any real strength in getting you through, Clooney is the reason.

I would say Adam Sandler also does well here. I wasn't wowed by him in the same way I was with his work in Punch Drunk Love or especially Uncut Gems, but I do think one of these days, he will get the right vehicle to lead him to Oscar glory. I just don't think this role is it, but he could very well get his first nod with it.

Although the one I really need to single out is Billy Crudup, who is only on screen for maybe 8-10 minutes and manages to get the engine running for the film in a lot of ways as his big scene is the catalyst that leads to Jay snapping.

 I won't go too deep into spoilers here, but Crudup's Tim is no longer acting and had been presented as being the potential star of the class as he was the one who liked to be "method". Honestly, the flashbacks involving the acting class and the audition were maybe the most effective for me in the film and I actually wish we could've had more of Clooney and Crudup together.

To reiterate another point from earlier, I am so baffled by how little Laura Dern had to do in this. It wasn't like her role was as small as Crudup's, but it just felt truly thankless and a waste of her talent. 

As it stands, Jay Kelly was an easy enough watch, but I would argue that it's a concept I love more than how Baumbach brought it to light. It felt as though something was missing that made a lot of the emotion feel a bit too hollow.

I wouldn't say it is one you have to rush to watch, but if the concept of this storyline sounds intriguing, I would recommend checking out the two Federico Fellini films that I felt this film tried to flirt with: La Dolce Vita and 8 1/2.

JAY KELLY

Rating: 6/10