"The script by Baumbach and Emily Mortimer finds Clooney - sorry, Jay Kelly - in a sort of midlife funk. He's 60, a universally beloved, deeply earnest movie hunk who has worked his way to the top and found, well, artifice. Kelly's careful facade - the stories he tells about himself - soon gets chipped away. On his way up the hills of Hollywood, he apparently left some personal carnage behind. Jay Kelly is about those who sacrificed to get him there."
"he gives a soulful performance, charming enough that his Kelly seduces a trainful of strangers in Italy with his aw-shucks charisma and yet also bristles when his oldest daughter makes him confront her abandonment issues. We see his cluelessness up close when he won't actually listen to his assistants or thoughtlessly tosses away a gift of a neckerchief from a dead colleague's son. He reveals his vanity when he tries to hide his age with a black Sharpie on his eyebrows."
George Clooney portrays Jay Kelly, a 60-year-old beloved movie star experiencing a midlife funk and confronting the artifice of his public persona. Kelly's carefully constructed facade unravels as past personal sacrifices and abandonment surface, revealing the people who paid a price for his success. The performance balances charisma and vulnerability: Kelly charms strangers yet bristles when his oldest daughter forces him to face abandonment issues. Scenes show his cluelessness toward assistants, thoughtless gestures like discarding a gifted neckerchief, and vain attempts to conceal aging with a Sharpie on his eyebrows. The film centers on choices about time and priorities and will stream on Netflix Dec. 5, 2025.
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