The film Noah Baumbach’s Jay Kelly begins with the titular character, a globally renowned movie star, facing the end of a film shoot. During an extended tracking shot on the set, Kelly utters a poignant opening line:
“I don’t want to be here anymore.”
This moment encapsulates the intricate artifice surrounding his celebrity status, highlighting the tension between public image and personal reality. The scene also captures the subtle, overlapping conversations typical of Baumbach’s directing style, establishing a nuanced atmosphere of fading fame.
A Reflection on the Shifting Nature of Stardom
Jay Kelly’s character feels increasingly outdated given modern entertainment trends, despite verbal acknowledgment of the shrinking influence of traditional movie idols. Casting George Clooney in this role adds a layer of meta-commentary, with Baumbach blending fiction and reality. The film probes what it means for an actor to “play yourself,” challenging the frequent dismissal of movie-star performances as mere vanity without artistic merit. This self-awareness is a hallmark of Baumbach’s work, used here to explore the complexities behind celebrity personas.
Use of Real Career Footage Blurs Fact and Fiction
Later in Jay Kelly, a montage of the character’s past films draws on actual movies from Clooney’s career, inserting a playful yet deliberate ambiguity. The montage emphasizes Kelly as a stylized, fictional 60-year-old version of Clooney’s earlier screen presence. This approach highlights the nostalgic but unrealistic notion that Kelly’s past roles, such as those reminiscent of The Peacemaker, were his career-defining hits. Unlike Clooney’s real-life evolution into directing and more serious roles, Kelly seems frozen in a caricatured star image that resists maturation.
Personal Struggles Amid Professional Decline
Jay Kelly wrestles emotionally with his fading relevance, especially after the death of his early mentor Peter Schneider, played by Jim Broadbent. The character’s grief and regrets emerge subtly through his strained relationship with his family. His younger daughter Daisy, portrayed by Grace Edwards, prepares to leave for college, intensifying his sense of loss and anxieties about his identity outside of fame. Kelly’s rehearsal of his own name in the mirror symbolically reflects his struggle to reclaim a genuine self beneath the celebrity mask.
Attempting to Rekindle Bonds Through a European Tribute
In a bid to reconnect, Kelly agrees to accept an award in Italy, hoping to entice Daisy to join him abroad. Baumbach foregrounds the artificial creation of this trophy, reinforcing the theme of constructed recognition. Kelly also invites his critical father (Stacy Keach) and his distant older daughter Jessica (Riley Keough), while convincing his manager and close friend Ron (Adam Sandler) to accompany him on an extended train journey. This trip serves as an attempt to form a surrogate family, blending personal and professional ties, though it often underscores fragmentation rather than cohesion.
The Ensemble Cast Provides Texture but Feels Dispersed
Despite featuring former Baumbach collaborators like Laura Dern and Greta Gerwig, the ensemble around Jay Kelly lacks sharp focus. The interactions among Kelly, Ron, and their families offer moments of warmth and complexity, yet these secondary storylines remain underdeveloped. The film hints at richer narratives within these relationships—such as the dynamics of Ron’s family, including Gerwig’s Lois and Sandler’s real-life daughter Sadie—but these threads serve only as partial complements to the central exploration of Kelly’s identity crisis.
The Film’s Exploration of Fame’s Ephemeral Nature
Jay Kelly’s story reflects broader concerns about the fleeting nature of stardom and the challenge of maintaining personal authenticity amid public expectations. By casting George Clooney and weaving elements of his career into the narrative, Baumbach deepens his meditation on performance both on-screen and off. The character’s journey toward self-understanding, marked by familial confrontations and awarded honors that feel manufactured, invites reflection on how actors navigate aging and relevance in a rapidly changing industry.
