It’s impossible to miss the similarities between George Clooney and his character in this terrific new film from Noah Baumbach, said Robbie Collin in The Telegraph.
Jay Kelly is a “silvery film star in his early 60s who is recognised everywhere he goes”, and often accused of playing versions of himself. Jay Kelly looks like Clooney, he acts like Clooney, and the clips we see of his films are from Clooney’s own. Where do the parallels end?
It is hard to say, because even Kelly isn’t quite Jay Kelly. Having been in the business for 35 years, he is now realising that “‘Jay Kelly’ is an abstract concept: a face on a poster, a star on a screen, a name on a brand endorsement”. Being him is a 24/7 job, and requires him, and his large entourage, to make sacrifices to keep the show afloat.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Smartly scripted by Baumbach and Emily Mortimer, this identity-crisis story is “deeply mischievous” and “deeply wise”.
The writers cleverly move the focus away from Kelly’s angst about his $20 million paycheques, said Kevin Maher in The Times, to focus instead on his regrets about his flaws as a father. Following the death of the director who gave him his break, Kelly flies to Europe to accept an award and gatecrash his teenage daughter’s travels.
Baumbach “is usually a pin-sharp comic dramatist”, said Danny Leigh in the Financial Times. This, however, is a “soft, Fellini-like satire”, packed with industry in-jokes.
Adam Sandler and Laura Dern are both very good, as Kelly’s manager and publicist respectively; but the film tends to the “twee” (watch out for “zany” scenes on the European train trip) and “nurses a surprising sourness” about Hollywood outsiders. The performances make the film watchable, but the big idea of the “meta resemblance” ultimately feels a bit wasted.
-
The best food books of 2025The Week Recommends From mouthwatering recipes to insightful essays, these colourful books will both inspire and entertain
-
Art that made the news in 2025The Explainer From a short-lived Banksy mural to an Egyptian statue dating back three millennia
-
Nine best TV shows of the yearThe Week Recommends From Adolescence to Amandaland
-
Winter holidays in the snow and sunThe Week Recommends Escape the dark, cold days with the perfect getaway
-
The best homes of the yearFeature Featuring a former helicopter engine repair workshop in Washington, D.C. and high-rise living in San Francisco
-
Critics’ choice: The year’s top 10 moviesFeature ‘One Battle After Another’ and ‘It Was Just an Accident’ stand out
-
A luxury walking tour in Western AustraliaThe Week Recommends Walk through an ‘ancient forest’ and listen to the ‘gentle hushing’ of the upper canopy
-
Joanna Trollope: novelist who had a No. 1 bestseller with The Rector’s WifeIn the Spotlight Trollope found fame with intelligent novels about the dramas and dilemmas of modern women
